MAM
Fifa, Hollywood team up for movie trilogy
ZURICH: Now fans of football can feast on action on the silver screen with the help of tinseltown magic. Fifa and some of the leading producers in the US film industry have announced a co-operation agreement.
This will set the pace for the ‘worlds favourite sport’ to be at the centre of a major Hollywood trilogy. The first film is scheduled to be launched next year.
Producer Lawrence Bender, who has produced virtually all Quentin Tarantino’s films to date including the Oscar winner Pulp Fiction has joined forces with producers and former media and sports industry executives Mike Jefferies and Matt Barrelle. They are developing what is being billed as the most powerful football movie of all time.
The contract was signed yesterday between Fifa president Sepp Blatter and Bender. Goal! tells the fictional story of a Latino soccer player who rises from the slums of Los Angeles to join a small northern English club and eventually plays in the World Cup. The sequel in expected in 2005 and the third film in 2006. Reports have stated that Bender has likened the series to the Sylvester Stallone Rocky films which dealt with boxing. The budget for the first film has been pegged at $30 million.
With this agreement Pelé’s words have proven prophetic. “Football is entertainment, and the entertainment industry will increasingly notice football in the future”. Meanwhile an AP report indicates that Fifa will not have any direct financial involvement in the movie. Its role will involve endorsing and marketing the film, introducing film makers to its sponsors and providing technical support.
Talks for cooperation are at an advanced stage with English Premiership clubs, including Chelsea, Newcastle, Manchester United and Liverpool the report states. Actors chosen will attend an intensive training camp in the UK in mid-October.
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.
