
India's Wipro beats first-quarter revenue estimates
Consolidated revenue at India's fourth-largest IT services provider stood at 221.35 billion rupees ($2.57 billion), rising 0.8 per cent from a year earlier and topping analysts' average estimate of 220.59 billion rupees, according to LSEG data.

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Independent Singapore
an hour ago
- Independent Singapore
GIC backs 3G Capital in acquisition of footwear firm Skechers in S$12b deal
SINGAPORE: GIC is set to back the acquisition of Skechers, a leading global footwear company, in partnership with 3G Capital. The investment firms have filed a joint application to India's Competition Commission (CCI) for approval of the deal. According to the notice submitted on 26 June 2025, the transaction involves 3G Capital indirectly acquiring Skechers' outstanding shares. Skechers is the third-largest footwear company in the world. The transaction will see it go private for around US$9.4 billion (S$12 billion). The deal is expected to close in Q3 2025. Following this, Skechers' stock will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. Known for its wide range of lifestyle and performance products, Skechers operates in 180 countries and has annual sales of US$9 billion. Most recently, it reported record sales of $2.41 billion in Q1 2025. With 65% of its revenue coming from international markets, Skechers has shown a strong global presence. GIC's involvement brings strategic benefits to the deal. The sovereign wealth fund will provide capital and gain certain rights in the company. It could benefit from 3G Capital's track record of improving operations. GIC likely sees long-term growth potential in Skechers' focus on affordable, comfort-driven products. Most recently, it backed the acquisition of German property tech firm Techem. Its assets under management (AUM) as of July 2025 are estimated at $800 billion by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, while research firm GlobalSWF suggests an AUM of $847 billion. GIC does not disclose its AUM as a matter of policy, to protect Singapore's reserves from speculative attack. In its 2023/2024 annual report, it reported nominal returns of 5.8% and a real return of 3.9%. 3G Capital, which backs major consumer brands like Burger King and Kraft Heinz, aims to strengthen Skechers' solid market position and worldwide distribution network. The investment will see the company's founder Robert Greenberg retained to lead it post-acquisition. The decision to go private comes during tough market conditions. These include high U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports and trade tensions between the U.S. and its trading partners. Given Skechers' manufacturing base and international supply chains, going private permits more flexible restructuring of supply chains and operations. For Skechers, the deal will provide an opportunity to improve operational efficiencies. Taking the company private offers more flexibility due to reduced shareholder pressure. Its focus on comfortable products, new technologies, and strong brand recognition puts it in a good position for ongoing growth. The CCI application shows that the parties believe the deal will not seriously harm competition in India. This is an important factor for international acquisitions.


CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
PayPal to launch cross-border platform with link to India's UPI payments system
MUMBAI :Payments firm PayPal has partnered with the operator of India's popular unified payments interface and others to launch a global platform through which consumers can make cross-border payments to businesses. The platform, PayPal World, will enable interoperability between local payment platforms and PayPal, the firm said in a statement on Wednesday. Its partners for the platform include National Payments Corporation of India - India's payments authority that operates UPI, Brazil's Mercado Pago, Tencent Holdings' Tenpay Global and Venmo. UPI dominates digital payments in India, accounting for about 85 per cent of the total volume of retail digital payments, per regulatory data. "The integration of UPI on PayPal World's platform will mark a significant step in expanding UPI's global footprint," said Ritesh Shukla, managing director and CEO of NPCI International Payments Limited. India has been in talks with countries in Africa and South America to help them build a digital payments system using UPI as a blueprint.

AsiaOne
7 hours ago
- AsiaOne
Why China's neighbours are worried about its new mega-dam project, Asia News
SINGAPORE — China has broken ground on what it says will be the world's largest hydropower project, a US$170 billion (S$220 billion) feat capable of generating enough electricity each year to power Britain. The scheme dwarfs the mighty Three Gorges Dam, currently the world's largest, and Chinese construction and engineering stocks surged after Premier Li Qiang unveiled it on the weekend. For Beijing, the project promises clean power, jobs and a jolt of stimulus for a slowing economy. For neighbours downstream, it stirs old anxieties about water security: the Yarlung Zangbo becomes the Brahmaputra in India and Bangladesh, a lifeline for millions. What exactly did China approve? The plan involves five dams along a 50km stretch where the river plunges 2,000m off the Tibetan Plateau. First power is expected to be generated in the early‑to‑mid 2030s, but beyond that and the price tag, China has published little information about how it intends to build the project. Why are neigbours concerned? That lack of information is compounding fears about water security in India and Bangladesh, which rely on the Brahmaputra for irrigation, hydropower and drinking water. The chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China, said earlier this year that the dam could dry out 80 per cent of the river passing through the Indian state while potentially inundating downstream areas such as neighbouring Assam state. In addition to water, the dam will also mean less sediment flowing downstream, according to Michael Steckler, a professor at Columbia University. That sediment carries nutrients essential for agriculture on floodplains downstream. India and China fought a border war in this region in the 1960s, and the lack of transparency from Beijing has helped fuel speculation it might use the dam to cut off water in another conflict, according to Sayanangshu Modak, an expert on the India-China water relationship at the University of Arizona. "The construction of the Yarlung Zangbo hydropower project is a matter within the scope of China's sovereign affairs," Beijing's foreign ministry said on Tuesday (July 22), adding the dam would provide clean energy and prevent flooding. "China has also conducted necessary communication with downstream countries regarding hydrological information, flood control, and disaster mitigation co-operation related to the Yarlung Zangbo project," the ministry said. India's foreign and water ministries did not respond to requests for comment. Will it starve India of water? But the impact of the dam on downstream flows has been overstated, in part because the bulk of the water that enters the Brahmaputra is from monsoon rainfall south of the Himalayas, and not from China, said Modak. He added that China's plans are for a "run of the river" hydropower project, which means the water will flow normally along the usual course of the Brahmaputra. India itself has proposed two dams on the Siang river, its name for the Yarlung Zangbo. One, an 11.5-gigawatt project in Arunachal Pradesh, will be India's largest if it goes ahead. Those have been proposed, in part, to assert India's claims on the river and bolster its case should China ever seek to divert the water, Modak added. "If India can show that it has been using the waters, then China cannot unilaterally divert," he said. Controversy is common Quarrels over dams and water security are not new. Pakistan has accused India of weaponising shared water supplies in the disputed Kashmir region after New Delhi suspended its participation in the Indus Waters Treaty, which regulates water sharing between the neighbours. In Egypt, a senior politician was once caught on camera proposing to bomb a controversial Nile river dam planned by Ethiopia during a long-running dispute over the project. Earthquake and extreme weather risks The dam will be built in an earthquake zone also prone to landslides, glacial‑lake floods and storms. A spree of dam building in the area sparked concerns from experts about safety following a devastating earthquake in Tibet earlier this year. A much smaller hydropower project on a nearby tributary has been limited to four‑month construction windows because of engineering challenges in high altitudes and vicious winters. [[nid:720484]]