Tag: Grant Thornton

Grant Thornton under CBI scanner for inflated valuation of Kingfisher Airlines: report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Leading global tax and advisory firm Grant Thornton has come under the CBI scanner for inflated valuation of Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines brand, reported The Economic Times.

As per the report, Grant Thorton executives are under the investigative agency’s lens ‘for allegedly submitting a “highly inflated and exaggerated” value of Rs 3,406.30 crore to Kingfisher Airlines.’ This was a big upgrade when compared to Brand Finance report that put the firm’s value at Rs 1,911 crore, the report said citing sources.

Mallya concealed the Brand Finance report and instead used the “hyperbolic” report of Grant Thornton to induce lenders including SBI, IDBI and other banks to sanction higher loans, the report said.

Various banks are seeking repayments of over Rs 9,000 crore from the now defunct airline and the government is seeking extradition of Vijay Mallya, the report added.

Also Read: SBI ex-chair OP Bhatt, other officials under CBI scanner for loans to Vijay Mallya: report

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Sebi empanels KPMG, Deloitee, 7 others to conduct forensic audit of listed companies

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Market regulator Sebi has empanelled nine entities including KPMG, Grant Thornton and Ernst & Young Associates LLP for conducting forensic audits of financial statements of listed companies to check frauds.

The other firms that have been selected are Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP, Chokshi & Chokshi LLP, G D Apte & Co CA, JLN US & Co, Pipara & Co LLP and T R Chadha & Co LLP.

Pursuant to completion of the empanelment process, these CA firms have been empanelled to take up the assignments relating to forensic audit, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a notice issued on Thursday.

Earlier in July, the markets watchdog had invited applications from eligible CA firms “for empanelment to take up assignments relating to forensic audit of financial statements of listed companies”.

The move comes amid Sebi ordering forensic audit of a slew of companies including Fortis Healthcare.

Of late, there have been concerns voiced over certain auditors for being negligent while examining books of the listed firms with various inconsistencies in financial statements being ignored.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Private equity investment deal tally touches $12.84 billion in January-August, says report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Private equity investments worth $1.33 billion were announced in August, taking the year-to-date deal value to $12.84 billion, says a report. According to Grant Thornton’s PE Dealtracker, 67 PE investments worth $1.33 billion were announced in August, registering a decline of 73 percent in terms of value over the year ago period even as there was an increase in the number of deals.

“PE transactions in August 2018 witnessed 43 percent improvement in volumes, however, fell short on the deal value by 73 percent as compared to August 2017,” Grant Thornton India LLP Director Pankaj Chopda said.

For the January-August period, there were 552 PE investment deals worth $12.8 billion, down 12 percent over the same period last year when $14.57 million worth of investments were announced.

Going ahead, the deal outlook for PE investments looks bullish, the report said.

“Bearing in mind the drive for consolidation for strengthening market position, competition for acquiring IBC impacted assets and increasing role of PE in supporting IBC transactions, deal activity is expected to again gain momentum in the coming months,” Chopda said.

Moreover, successful subsequent round of fund raises and debut of new funds will also drive deal activity in the PE space, he added.

In terms of sector, the month of August was dominated by investments in start ups, which accounted for 67 percent of total investment volumes.

The sector also saw the biggest ever fund raise by an Indian healthcare start up, with Chiratae Ventures, Oaktree Capital, IDG Ventures, Accel Partners and Kalaari Capital investing $120 million in Curefit.

August also witnessed KKR’s investment in Ramky Enviro Engineers, marking one of the largest buyouts in India, in addition to being the first private equity buyout in the country’s environmental services sector.

According to the report, real estate, consumer and retail, BFSI, IT and ITES and startups are expected to be the focus sectors for PEs.

“Sectors with high concentration of unorganised players and having appetite for scalability will attract significant demand from PEs,” Chopda said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow