Five stories worth your coffee today.
1. Hero pays Rs 1,758 crore for a third of Ather
On August 28, Hero MotoCorp’s board approved buying 1.19 crore Ather Energy shares from Singapore’s GIC at Rs 1,480 apiece, lifting its stake from 29.88% to 32.8% on a fully diluted basis. The trade completes by September 3 and needs no regulatory approvals. Hero has backed Ather since 2016 and also sells its own Vida scooters, so India’s largest petrol two-wheeler maker now owns close to a third of its biggest electric rival while running a competing brand. Few incumbents get to hedge a transition this directly. (Entrackr, Business Standard)
2. Nestle asked India to consult before it labels
On August 27, Nestle’s chief executive said India should consult companies while drafting its front-of-pack health labelling rules, so the framework is built scientifically. India has no mandatory front-of-pack warning system yet, and the debate has sharpened as the food regulator grows more public about naming brands and issuing notices. When the world’s largest packaged-food company asks for a seat at the table, it expects the rules to arrive soon. The lobbying has moved from whether India will label packs to how. (Reuters)
3. Rs 6.5 trillion is the new fundraising ceiling
On August 28, Motilal Oswal forecast that public market fundraising in India will touch a record Rs 6.5 trillion in FY27, on a simultaneous surge in IPOs, QIPs and block deals. For scale, public equity fundraising was Rs 3.71 trillion in FY25, itself a record. Households keep sending money into equities through SIPs, and companies and early investors are matching that demand with paper. This week alone, GIC sold Ather to Hero, Ribbit Capital sold Rs 2,217 crore of Groww, and Lightspeed exited PhysicsWallah. (Mint)
4. Zerodha made Rs 4,283 crore standing still
Zerodha reported FY26 net profit of Rs 4,283 crore, up about 1%, on revenue flat at roughly Rs 8,500 crore. Brokerage income fell 10.7% to Rs 2,738 crore and net transaction charges dropped to zero from around Rs 400 crore, as regulation squeezed options trading and market activity cooled. What held the line was lending: the margin trading facility launched in December 2024 now brings in about a tenth of revenue. The broker that built its name on Rs 20 trades increasingly earns interest. (Entrackr)
5. A health startup that has not launched bought a London clinic
On August 27, Temple, the longevity startup founded by Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal, acquired Longevous, a London-based longevity medicine practice, ahead of its own launch. The deal brings a board-certified physician and an Oxford-trained biomedical scientist into Temple full time, with the practice continuing to serve its clients under Temple. Buying a working clinic before revealing the product suggests Temple will lean on medical claims, which are exactly the claims that need doctors behind them. (Entrackr, Business Today)
Read today’s full edition → https://theinsightlabs.in/daily/2026-08-29
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