Weekly News Wrap: Singaporean offline business sales plummet; Indian court dismisses Amazon, Flipkart’s plea vs. antitrust probe

And Indian food delivery startup Zomato will raise $1.26b in IPO.

From CNBC:

Singapore’s brick and mortar businesses have been hit hard by COVID-19 and retailers have seen sales plummet significantly as a result of pandemic restrictions, according to a retail trade body in the country.

Sales have plunged between 30% to 70% for some retailers since the onset of the pandemic, according to Rose Tong, executive director of the Singapore Retailers Association (SRA). With each round of tightened restrictions, sales have declined between 50% to 80%, she told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”

Singapore re-imposed tighter Covid-19 restrictions again on 22 July, as the number of COVID-19 cases climbed due to several clusters in karaoke bars as well as wet markets. The increased measures—which include the barring of dine-in services and limiting public gatherings to two—will last until 18 August.

Read more here.

From Reuters:

An Indian court dismissed appeals by Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart that sought to stall an antitrust investigation into their business practices, dealing a major setback to the US firms in a key market.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) last year ordered an inquiry after allegations from brick-and-mortar retailers that the US firms promoted select sellers on their e-commerce platforms and used to business practices that stifle competition.

The investigation was on hold for more than a year after companies challenged it, denying wrongdoing and arguing that the CCI lacked evidence, but a court allowed it to continue in June. On 23 July, the High Court in southern Karanataka state rejected the US firms' appeals.

"By no stretch of imagination can inquiry be quashed at this stage. The appeals are nothing but an attempt to ensure that action initiated by the CCI ... does not attain finality," a two-judge bench said while reading the decision in court.

Read more here.

From Reuters:

The Indian food delivery startup, Zomato, will raise $1.26b by pricing its shares at $1.02 (INR76) each in its initial public offering, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

The company, which is backed by Ant Group, will be valued at up to $8b following the initial public offering (IPO) which is the first for a food delivery group in India. The pricing is set at the top of the flagged range of $0.96 (INR72) to $1.02 (INR76) each at the start of the booking building process.

Zomato, launched in 2008, collates restaurant reviews and offers home delivery of food, making it a competitor to the Swiggy and Amazon’s food delivery service.

Zomato's IPO was strongly backed by investors attracting bids worth $46.3b as it was more than 38 times oversubscribed when the books closed on 23 July, signalling confidence about the fast-growing sector. 

Read more here.