MAM
WPP Stream India’s view into the future of communication and creativity
MUMBAI: WPP Stream India, the unconventional (un) conference organised by WPP Group Company has announced its return in the pink city, Jaipur. Being held in India for the second time, Stream will witness a diverse crowd of 250+ CEOs, senior marketers, senior leaders from media and creative, future thinking leaders, start ups/entrepreneurs and digital evangelists from the creative, media and technology space. The attendees would come together from 4 to 7 February to celebrate and explore the future of communications, creativity and digital innovation in South Asia.
WPP Stream is a unique thought leadership initiative designed by WPP group to bring together the industry leaders on a single interactive platform in order to exchange and provoke ideas about the future of digital media, communications, creativity, business and society. With over one hundred discussion sessions, Ignite talks (15 slides in 15 seconds), pitch show and more, Stream India stands to be an exclusive opportunity for individuals to test their ideas and tap into the wisdom of the masses. Moreover, the participant will also get a chance to meet Yossi Vardi, the globally acclaimed hi-tech investor who is also the co-host of Stream 2015 India edition.
Ranjan Kapur – WPP Country Manager India, who will be hosting the STREAM 2015 India on behalf of WPP said, “We are absolutely delighted to announce the return of WPP Stream India. By the way of this initiative, WPP aims to foster entrepreneurship in the industry and bring an upsurge in the disruptive technologies and innovation. Stream 2014 was a great success and we are confident that this year is going to be even more exciting.”
Stream being an (un)conference, follows rules distinct from the usual conference model, with no keynote speeches or PowerPoint presentations. The (un)conference is vastly focused on active involvement of participants and spontaneous discussions and conversations leading to explosion of ideas and thoughts. Stream recognizes role of technology & start-ups in shaping our future and taking it a notch higher this time, WPP has partnered with NASSCOM 10K startups wherein technology startups under the programme will demonstrate futuristic & next-gen technologies, through the STREAM tech-lab.
Speaking on the same, Rajat Tandon, Senior Director, NASSCOM 10,000 Start-Ups Program said, “Resonating with our mission to nurture tech start-ups and make them meet F.A.M.E., our partnership with the Tech Lab at WPP Stream 2015 is all about manufacturing magic, a fantastic opportunity to expose the 10ksuperstars to new ideas, demystify technology and foster creative partnerships between tech startups, designers, and media professionals in a highly interactive unconference format.”
Tushar Vyas, Managing Partner, GroupM expressed, “At a time when the entire world is moving at such a fast pace and everything is going digital , it becomes imperative to thrust South Asia’s marketing and media industry into a era of unconventional and out of the box concepts, thinking and creativity and therefore the introduction of WPP Stream. Stream brings together brand marketers with various industry leaders to think about our digital future and what that means for communications, creativity & business.”
Brands
Flipkart completes reverse flip to India ahead of IPO
Walmart-owned e-commerce giant shifts domicile from Singapore to Bengaluru
MUMBAI: Flipkart has completed its restructuring to move its parent company from Singapore back to India, marking a key milestone as the Walmart-owned marketplace prepares for a potential initial public offering on Indian stock exchanges, ET reported, citing people aware of the matter.
The move, often referred to as a “reverse flip”, relocates the company’s legal home to India and aligns its corporate structure more closely with its largest market. It also clears an important regulatory step for Flipkart as it explores listing plans.
As part of the restructuring, several Singapore-based entities have been merged into Flipkart Internet Private Limited, which will now serve as the main holding company for the entire group.
The consolidation brings a number of major businesses directly under the Indian parent company. These include fashion platform Myntra, logistics arm Ekart, travel booking platform Cleartrip, healthcare marketplace Flipkart Health, and fintech venture Super.money.
Under the new structure, global investors including Walmart, Microsoft, SoftBank, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will hold their stakes directly in the Indian entity rather than through an overseas holding company.
The redomiciliation required approval from the Indian government because Chinese technology company Tencent owns around a 5 to 6 per cent stake in Flipkart. Under Press Note 3, investments from countries sharing a land border with India require prior government clearance.
Flipkart had already secured approval from the National Company Law Tribunal in December. With the latest clearance from the central government, the company has now obtained all the regulatory approvals needed to complete the relocation, ET reported earlier.
Flipkart had originally shifted its holding structure to Singapore in 2011 to tap global capital more easily. However, as India’s capital markets have matured, several start-ups have begun returning their domiciles to the country ahead of public listings. Companies such as Razorpay, Groww, and Meesho have taken similar steps.
The company is now expected to move ahead with its IPO preparations and has begun early discussions with merchant bankers. According to people familiar with the matter, Flipkart could file its draft prospectus later this year, setting the stage for what may become one of the most closely watched listings in India’s e-commerce sector.
Flipkart has been majority-owned by Walmart since 2018, when the US retail giant acquired a 77 per cent stake in the company for $16 billion in one of the largest e-commerce deals globally.
