WeWork is selling its 27% stake in its Indian unit to new investors, including the Enam group, A91 Partners, and CaratLane founder Mithun Sacheti, in a secondary deal worth around Rs 1,200 crore. The Embassy group will also reduce its stake from 73% to 60% as part of the transaction. WeWork’s Indian business has seen strong growth, reporting revenue of Rs 1,300 crore in FY23 with narrowing losses, in contrast to the collapse of WeWork’s US operations.
The deal comes as the co-working space in India sees a post-pandemic revival, with other players like Awfis, Indiqube, and 91Springboard also expanding. WeWork entered India in 2017 through a joint venture with the Embassy group.
PhonePe, invested over ₹800 crore in subsidiaries in the past year, primarily focusing on expanding businesses such as insurance broking, wealth management, and hyperlocal ecommerce. Notably, significant funds went into PhonePe Insurance Broking Services, indicating a strategic push towards retail cover distribution. Despite lower margins, PhonePe continues to heavily invest in insurance.
Additionally, substantial sums were directed to PhonePe Wealth Broking and Pincode Shopping Solutions. The company raised $650 million in 2023 to fuel its new ventures and appointed CEOs for various verticals.
In 2023-24, India experienced its highest net Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) inflows since 2015-16, totaling $41.6 billion, with $16.4 billion in the debt segment and $25.3 billion in equities. March 2024 alone saw $6.7 billion in net FPI inflows, with both equity and debt segments seeing gains. Despite initial caution, the equity markets rebounded, particularly in realty and PSU sectors. India’s late adoption of REITs and InvITs is evolving, with ₹1.3-lakh crore mobilized since 2019-20, including a recent InvIT listing attracting foreign investor interest.
BharatPe has launched BharatPe One, a versatile payment device combining POS, QR code, and speaker functionalities. It will be rolled out in 100 cities initially, expanding to 450 cities in the next 6 months. Equipped with a touchscreen, 4G, Wi-Fi, and Android OS, it aims for enhanced performance and security. Offering various payment options like QR codes and card payments, it targets simplifying transactions for offline merchants.