MAM
IIFA boosts Star Plus’ ratings; Zee TV surges to No. 2
MUMBAI: Buoyed by the telecast of the IIFA (International Indian Film Academy) awards, Star Plus jumped 33 GRPs to pocket 298 GRPs (gross rating points) in the week ended 7 July.
The IIFA Awards that aired for three and half hours fetched 4.7 TVR, according to TAM data (C&S, HSM, 4+) provided by Hindi GECs.
Incidentally, the 13th IIFA Awards is the second-highest rated Bollywood award show on Indian television in 2012. The highest rating was recorded by Colors‘ Screen Awards that garnered 5.37 TVR. Other premium award properties are Zee TV’s Zee Cine Awards that registered 4.38 TVR on Zee TV and Filmfare Awards that fetched 4.59 TVR on Sony Entertainment Television. Colors’ second awards property, The Apsara Producers Guild Awards, registered 1.4 TVR in its first airing.
Meanwhile, after a gap of four weeks, Zee TV is back at No.2 in the GEC hierarchy. The channel added 27 GRPs to its previous week’s tally to close the week ended 7 July with 238 GRPs. Almost all of its shows have seen improvement in viewership, though DID Li’l Masters lost numbers.
Its recently launched horror show, Fear Files, continued to register 3+ TVR. Additionally, Zee TV’s fiction property Punarvivaha has become the leader of the 10.30 pm slot.
Meanwhile, Colors has slipped to No.3 with a loss of seven GRPs and has ended the week with 225 GRPs. Colors’ highest rate fiction show Balika Vadhu’s ratings dropped from 4.4 TVR to 3.9 TVR while Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa rated an average of 1.8 TVR.
Sony Entertainment Television (Set) added 13 GRPs to end with 207 GRPs. The channel has started airing three of its shows – C.I.D, Crime Patrol and Adalat – on Sundays.
Sab, with addition of four GRPs, closed the week with 125 GRPs while Life OK added two GRPs to end with 103 GRPs.
Sahara One with 31 GRPs (last week 42) is at the bottom of the ladder.
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.
