Newsletter
Unilever buys magnum, Drone maker gets a boost, and more IPOs incoming.
🗓 Morning, folks!
Dalal Street ended with huge gains for the third consecutive session, with the Sensex and Nifty gaining over 1%, led by positive global cues & easing geopolitical tensions.
Financials, metals & select large-cap stocks drove the rally.
💡 Spotlight: Shares of defence stocks including HAL & BEL climbed after the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation - NATO agreed to raise its defence spending target.
The alliance has set a goal of allocating 5% of GDP to defence by 2035, a step up from the earlier 2% guideline. The ramp-up is part of NATO’s push to modernise infrastructure & cut reliance on the U.S., with the budget covering not just defence hardware, but also cybersecurity, logistics, and civilian resilience.
Riding the momentum, The Nifty India Defence Index too surged more than 1%.
Let’s hit it!
1 Big thing: Adani Total Gas & Jio-bp team up on fuel retail ⛽
Adani Total Gas Ltd (ATGL) and Jio-bp have announced a partnership to co-retail their fuel products at select service stations.
This partnership marks a pivotal development in India’s fuel and mobility landscape, bringing together two of the country’s leading energy retailers to enhance accessibility and efficiency.
What’s up: under the agreement, certain ATGL fuel stations will now dispense Jio-bp’s high-grade petrol and diesel. Meanwhile, specific Jio-bp outlets will be equipped with ATGL’s CNG filling infrastructure in the areas where ATGL holds the distribution rights.
ATGL, a joint venture between the Adani Group and French energy major TotalEnergies, is one of India’s top players in city gas distribution. Jio-bp, backed by Reliance Industries and British Petroleum (bp), is a well-established fuel and mobility company with a growing footprint in both traditional and alternative fuels.
ATGL runs nearly 650 CNG stations across India, while Jio-bp operates close to 2,000 fuel retail outlets nationwide.
The benefit: co-locating their infrastructure allows both companies to expand fuel availability including CNG, petrol, and diesel more rapidly and cost-effectively.
2. Magnum takes a big bite of Kwality Wall’s 🍦
Hindustan backed Unilever, has announced that Magnum Ice Cream is planning to buy a 61.9% stake in Kwality Wall’s India.
To break it down: Unilever recently split its ice cream business into a separate company.
Within that setup, Magnum HoldCo is the holding company managing this new ice cream division.
This news follows HUL’s earlier decision to separate its ice cream business (Kwality Wall’s India) into its own publicly listed company, a move it announced on January 22, 2025.
Why this matters: the move signals big changes for HUL. By spinning off Kwality Wall’s and having Magnum take a controlling stake, HUL is unlocking value from a small but fast-growing part of its business.
Investors are watching closely, as this strategic shift could boost HUL’s focus, improve margins, and potentially create more value for shareholders.
Zoom out: the Indian ice cream market is growing rapidly & is expected to cross $5 billion this financial year. While HUL’s ice cream business contributes only 3% to the company’s revenue in FY25, it remains part of a high-growth segment with strong future potential.
While we are on acquisitions,
Oil major BP grabbed headlines following reports of a possible takeover by Shell, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
However, it was later clarified that Shell has dismissed the news as market speculation, stating that no talks are currently taking place.
The deets: BP has a market capitalisation of around $80 billion. If Shell were to acquire BP, it would mark the largest deal in the oil industry since the 1990s.
According to Bloomberg, a merger would result in a combined upstream production of nearly 5 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, along with a dominant position in the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market.
Zoom out: the speculation arises at a time when BP has faced challenges with investor confidence, particularly after shifting its strategy toward renewable energy.
In an attempt to rebuild trust, the company announced a renewed focus on fossil fuels in February.
3. $100M boost for Indian drone maker Raphe mPhibr 🏦
Drone startup Raphe mPhibr has raised $100 m in an all-equity Series B round led by General Catalyst.
The funding scoop: the Noida-based startup designs & manufactures a range of unmanned aerial vehicles. Several of their systems are already being used by the Indian defence forces with others nearing final validation.
Why it matters: drones are fast emerging as a crucial element in the defence space. Amid rising geopolitical tensions including the India-Pakistan conflict, nations are increasingly relying on drones for rapid infiltration, surveillance, and precision strikes.
Over the past 12 months, Raphe mPhibr has sold over 300 drones & achieved up to 4x revenue growth over the last four years. The company remains profitable and is now eyeing a public listing within the next 2-5 years.
Speaking of fundraises,
Jewelry startup GIVA filled in their pockets with ₹530 cr in a Series C round led by Creagis.
The bigger picture: Lab-grown diamonds currently make up 30% of the global diamond jewellery market, with the U.S. alone accounting for 75-80% of total consumption.
According to INDEXTb, lab-grown diamond jewellery sales are projected to grow at a CAGR of 14.8% over the next decade, with the market size expected to reach $1,192 million by 2033.
4. Stocks that kept us interested 🚀
1. Texmaco Rail wins ₹535 cr deal in Cameroon 🚆
Texmaco Rail and Engineering surged 3%, extending the gain for the fifth consecutive session on an order worth ₹535 crore from Cameroon’s CAMALCO SA.
CAMALCO S.A is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canyon Resources Ltd, which operates exploration activities in Cameroon.
The deets: the deal includes the manufacturing and supply of 560 open-top wagons in two phases over 24 months worth ₹282 crore, plus a 20-year maintenance contract valued at ₹253 crore.
The contract also includes a provision for additional orders of up to 1,040 more wagons and long-term servicing over the next five years.
Open-top wagons are essential for transporting bulk commodities like bauxite, coal, minerals, and construction materials especially in mining-heavy economies like Cameroon.
2. JSW Energy signs 25-yr solar-wind project with NHPC ⚡
JSW Energy wins 300 MW solar-wind hybrid deal across Rajasthan & Andhra Pradesh.
A 300 MW solar-wind hybrid deal means enough clean energy to power around 6 lakh homes, combining both solar and wind to generate more consistent electricity throughout the day and night.
The deets: JSW Energy’s step-down arm Energizent Power has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA). The project, connected via the inter-state transmission system (ISTS), will be developed across Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh and is set to be commissioned in 24 months.
Why it matters: with this deal, JSW Energy’s locked-in generation portfolio climbs to 29.9 GW, which includes 12.5 GW operational and 12.8 GW under construction. It also has 29.3 GWh in energy storage capacity, including hydro and battery-based systems.
Zoom out: JSW Energy has set a bold target of reaching 30 GW in generation and 40 GWh in storage by FY30, with a long-term goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
3. ACME Solar wins big battery storage deal ⚡
ACME Solar has bagged 275 MW/550 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) projects from NHPC in Andhra Pradesh across Kuppam and Ghani.
A 275 MW/550 MWh battery system stores extra electricity and releases enough power to run over 1.5 lakh homes for two hours when needed.
The deets: the company secured the Kuppam project (50 MW/100 MWh) at a tariff of ₹2,10,000 per MW/month and the Ghani project (225 MW/450 MWh) at ₹2,22,000 per MW/month.
Each site will run two full cycles daily, meaning the system must store and release energy twice a day, every day.
ACME Solar, with a 6,970 MW renewable portfolio, is one of India’s top integrated clean energy players.
Zoom out: India is the third-largest electricity producer in the world, generating over 1,900 billion units (kWh) annually. Peak power demand hit an all-time high of 250 GW in 2024, and it's expected to cross 340 GW by 2030, driven by urbanisation, EVs, and industrial growth.
5. Quick IPOs in focus 🎓
Credila Financial Services, India’s leading education loan provider, has filed its draft papers with SEBI to raise ₹5,000 crore through an IPO.
The offer includes a ₹3,000 crore fresh issue and a ₹2,000 crore OFS, with major shareholders EQT’s Kopvoorn B.V. offloading up to ₹950 crore, and HDFC Bank selling ₹1,050 crore worth of shares.
Credila may also raise up to ₹600 crore in a pre-IPO round.
Zoom out: education financing is growing fast as more Indian students head abroad. With ₹5,000 crore in play, this could become one of the biggest IPOs in the education finance space, and a bellwether for investor interest in student lending platforms.
What else are we snackin’ 🍿
🌍 Travel shift: global leisure travel to hit $15 trillion by 2040, led by rising demand from India, China, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam.
📈 IPO shower: June saw 8 big IPOs raise ₹17,688 crore and 30 SME IPOs mop up ₹1,329 crore, marking a 9-month high for small listings.
📡 Vi dialling up: Vodafone Idea plans to raise $2.9 billion in loans to boost its network and stay in the race with telecom giants.
💹 Market milestone: Reliance Industries jumped 2% on Thursday reclaiming the ₹20 trillion market cap mark for the first time since Sep 2024.
That’s a wrap! Don’t let the weekday blues get to you.
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