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Tag: Amit Agarwal

  • Mandira moves in as Howden eyes a high-stakes M&A power play

    Mandira moves in as Howden eyes a high-stakes M&A power play

    MUMBAI: Howden’s latest appointment is anything but business as usual, it’s business with intent. The global insurance and reinsurance broking giant has announced Mandira Gupta as its new managing director & head of M&A, IMEA, placing a seasoned dealmaker at the helm of its transactional risk and private equity solutions playbook.

    Based out of Mumbai, Mandira joins at a time when India’s mergers and acquisitions landscape is on a blistering upswing. According to Grant Thornton Bharat, the first quarter of 2025 saw deals worth 5.3 billion dollars marking a 204 per cent jump in value and a 25 per cent rise in volume over Q1 last year. It’s a deal party, and Howden just handed the aux to one of the sharpest minds in the room.

    Mandira’s reputation precedes her. She’s credited with building India’s Transaction Risk (TR) insurance practice from the ground up, and has over 20 years of experience across insurance broking and investment banking. Prior to this, she held senior leadership at Marsh India, where she steered the PEMA practice in India and led the TR vertical across India, the Middle East, and Africa.

    From headline-grabbing mega deals to needle-threading cross-border transactions, Mandira’s portfolio is stacked with complexity, scale, and innovation making her a natural fit to drive Howden’s ambitions across the IMEA region.

    IMEA managing director & head of M&A Mandira Gupta said, “I am delighted to join Howden, and look forward to contributing to its growth and business objectives. My main emphasis will be on creating customized solutions for high-profile transactions, leveraging my long-standing relationships within the industry.”

    Howden India CEO & MD Amit Agarwal added, “We are proud to welcome Mandira to our team. Her appointment strengthens Howden India’s dynamic growth and firm dedication to enhancing its expertise in the PE and M&A sectors, as we continue to expand our capabilities and deliver exceptional value to our clients.”

    With India fast becoming one of the most dynamic M&A markets in the world, and deal tables growing longer by the day, Howden’s latest hire isn’t just timely, it’s tactical. And with Mandira Gupta leading the charge, the message is clear: big deals need bigger vision and even sharper minds.

  • Howden harnesses the collective power of its global broking operations under a new brand

    Howden harnesses the collective power of its global broking operations under a new brand

    Mumbai: Howden, the global insurance group, today unveils a new brand as it brings together its global broking operations under one name.

    The rebrand follows Howden’s announcement in April that it would unify and simplify its business structure under a single, aligned global executive, with insurance broking, reinsurance broking and underwriting reporting directly to David Howden, CEO.

    Howden CEO  David Howden commented, “As we unveil our new brand and enter our 30 years, we are excited to mark this new chapter for Howden.  I am incredibly proud of what we’ve built.  The Howden brand will be represented by 15,000 people in 50 countries, not only capturing the scale of the firm’s operations for millions of clients but also, with a fresh and dynamic visual approach, expressing their collective difference.

    “By remaining true to our founding principles of independence, employee ownership, expertise, friendship and trust, we have created a company owned and run by the people who work in it. We have the architecture in place, and by continuing to bring the best insurance expertise to our clients, we can now unlock further opportunities for growth through the power of a single global brand.

    “As we move forward at scale our focus is firmly on harnessing our collective power, attracting talent and aligned businesses and putting our people first.  By investing in our infrastructure and empowering our experts to do their best for our clients, we can show the force for good we know insurance can be.

    “We act for clients ranging from individuals to the largest global corporations, spanning the full spectrum of local, speciality and international (re)insurance.  We now have a brand that shows all we have to offer our customers.  It reflects who we are.

    “Our go-to-market strategy is simple; we are committed to acting as one business, bringing the full force of all our experts, regardless of specialism or geography, for the benefit of our clients.  That way, with transparency and trust, I can promise that all our stakeholders get the very best of us.

    Howden India CEO Amit Agarwal said, “As we move forward, we are consolidating our collective strength under a single, powerful umbrella, fostering innovation, efficiency, and outstanding value for our clients. We will work together to build a future in which Howden is a beacon of excellence, setting new industry standards and providing great customer experiences. We are committed to fostering a culture in which every individual, working with us, is not just acknowledged, but also celebrated. Performance excellence gets enlivened by this culture of empowerment and respect”.

    As of today, Howden’s Indian operations span seven offices and over 300 employees with specialist expertise servicing local clients. India is one of the world’s fastest-growing insurance markets and Howden’s aspiration is to become a top three broker in the country by 2026, building on its solid reputation as a specialised commercial intermediary. Howden’s focus is to continue to build out its capabilities and invest in local expertise, including reinsurance, for the benefit of its Indian and multinational clients.

  • Amazon’s Amit Agarwal appointed as IAMAI chairman

    Amazon’s Amit Agarwal appointed as IAMAI chairman

    MUMBAI: Amit Agarwal, senior vice-president, Amazon and country manager, India, has been appointed as the new chairman of Internet and Mobile Association of India [IAMAI]. He assumes office at a time when the industry is going through a growth trajectory with more than 500 million internet users in India.

    Commenting on his appointment, Agarwal said, “This is an exciting phase in the growth story of internet in India. As the internet revolution continues to be a socio-economic leveler, offering barrier-free access to Indian customers and small businesses in the remotest areas, I am excited that we are coming together as an industry to help truly harness the potential of the internet and emerging technologies such as AI in addressing India-specific problems at scale. I look forward to IAMAI continuing to offer a thoughtful platform for the industry to collaborate with the government, academia & think-tanks and other relevant stakeholders to leverage the digital ecosystem and contribute to India's growth."

    He added, "We will continue to offer evidence-based insights to not only be trusted as thought leaders in the emerging areas of tomorrow but also in the debates today. The association remains committed therefore to bring forward non-partisan leading reports that include multiple perspectives to help lay the road map for achieving the 1 trillion dollar digital economy along with job creation, improving livelihood and contribution to the overall GDP of the country."

    Apart from Agarwal, there have been certain other key appointments at IAMAI. Yatra co-founder and CEO Dhruv Shringi has taken up the charge as vice chairman. He succeeds MakeMyTrip founder and group CEO Deep Kalra.

    Times Internet vice chairman Satyan Gajwani has been elected as the new Treasurer of the association. Dr. Subho Ray continues to be the president of the association. The tenure of the new council is for two years.

  • Amazon eyes another 100 mn users in India

    Amazon eyes another 100 mn users in India

    MUMBAI: E-commerce has not even scratched the surface of its growth potential in the country – this according to Amazon India head Amit Agarwal. The giant will not shy away from another round of aggressive investments in this market. 

    As per the reports, Agarwal said that the company is looking to add another 100 million users to its platform in India. He added that the company would transform the landscape of domestic e-commerce and take its prime subscription base in the country to 100 million. Earlier this year, the company said it has more than 100 million Prime users globally. Prime drives a significant part of its overall sales in India. 

    Repeating the words used by CEO Jeff Bezos, on the occasion of the US company’s fifth anniversary in India, Agarwal said that Amazon is not even in ‘Day1’ of e-commerce in India.

    As per the reports, Bezos had committed $5 billion investment for India since Amazon’s entry and  much of this has already been invested. The current numbers for Prime and the overall user base in India were not disclosed by Agarwal. He also didn’t reveal about the size of possible future investments. As per Kantar IMRB’s study of 32,000 online shoppers, 50 per cent of online shoppers chose to shop on Amazon India during the festive season sale this year. Moreover, Flipkart had claimed leadership over Amazon during the sale. 

  • Simran: Ill-defined

    Simran: Ill-defined

    Gujarati NRI family or a Gujarati abroad seems to be the current theme for filmmakers. We recently had Jab Harry Met Sejal and this week has seen the release of Simran. 

    Simran is about a Gujarati family settled in the US that consists of a mother, a father and a daughter. The daughter, KanganaRanaut, is a divorcee and, mainly, a rebel without a cause. She works at a hotel in the housekeeping department. Her job is the usual – making beds and cleaning room, but, she is particular about calling her job as one in housekeeping department; that probably gives it dignity according to her. Still, she does not think much of her father’s business of vending Gujarati savouries. 

    Kangana is always at loggerheads with her father except, of course, when she needs a favour, especially monetary help. While her father and mother are keen on getting her married again, her priority is to move out to a place of her own. She has been saving for a new house due to which her contribution to the household is nil.

    Asked to accompany her cousin to Vegas, she agrees. Her cousin has a rendezvous planned with her boyfriend there.Deciding to leave her cousin alone with her man, she wanders into a casino. On the bar counter she spots a handsome man and decides to hit on him. As the hunk goes to a gambling table, she follows him there where she meets another Gujarati who encourages and teaches her to gamble. 

    Kangana has that customary beginners luck, wins some money and immediately decides cater to some urges to buy a dress and other things. And, she is back to the gambling table. The beginners luck has worn out and she starts losing and, like most gamblers, wants to one more go finally also losing her savings. The casino loans her money, 32,000 dollars! 

    Kangana’s troubles have started. Since her savings are finished, her credit rating falls and her application for a loan for her new home is denied. The gun totting black collector for the casino is at her back, threatening all the time. 

    To lay her hands on money, Kangana decides to rob banks. Her three attempts are successful but, strangely, no bank seems to have 50,000 dollars which she now owes to the casino including interest. Kangana loses her job when the black casino collector comes to her workplace. To add to her troubles, the stolen money which she kept in her locker in the hotel changing room is also gone.

    Kangana decides on one final robbery.

    In the meanwhile, she has come close to the guy her family has chosen, takes a liking to him as well. But, it is also the time for her troubles to climax. 
    The film’s story does not quite convince a viewer. There is no logic to the protagonist’s behaviour. Her attitude, way of life and thinking are not identifiable. The walking into a bank and scaring the teller enough to hand over all the money on a lipstick inscribed threat chit seems easier than cashing a cheque in any bank! For one who never cares for the feelings of her father or the saamaj which he often cites, it is strange that she decides to lead the police away from the population lest the samaaj sees her. The direction of the movie is passable but has taken too many liberties. The cinematography is good as the US locations provide ample scope. Using Gujarati dialogue frequently does not help the cause with other audiences as has been seen in earlier films that have resorted to a regional language. The music works well for the film.

    This is purely a KanganaRanaut vehicle with other actors being incidental. She excels. Soham Shah in a small role is sincere. 

    Simran has had a poor opening. The chances of picking up are dim during this dull period.

    Producers: Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Shailesh R Singh, Amit Agarwal.
    Director: Hansal Mehta.
    Cast: KanganaRanaut, Soham Shah.
     

  • Amazon Prime offers deals to subscribers

    MUMBAI: Amazon India has announced its first Prime Day to be held on 11 July. Prime members can enjoy 30 hours of deal shopping starting at 6pm on 10 July — and be the first in India to get exclusive access to over 30 exclusive new launches from the country’s top brands.

    Prime Day is an annual event which has expanded to 13 countries this year including the U.S., U.K., Spain, Mexico, Japan, Italy, India, Germany, France, China, Canada, Belgium and Austria. Amazon India SVP and country head Amit Agarwal said, “Prime brings to members the best of Amazon with unlimited free fast delivery, ad-free video streaming, exclusive selection and deals, and much more.”

    India’s first Prime Day

    • Exclusive access to 30 new launches – Prime members will be the first in India to get exclusive access to the latest launches from over 30 major brands like Honor Mobile Phones, IFB, LG, Sharp, ASICS, Rocky S, GAP, Lavie, Louis Philippe, Lego, Delsey and Puma among others.

    • Thousands of Deals – Prime Day gives Prime members 30 hours to shop from great deals across a wide range of categories with new deals being added through the day.

    • Never before seen offers from Amazon Devices – Great deals on the newly launched Amazon Fire TV stick and Kindle

    • 20% Extra Cashback on Amazon Pay – Members topping up their balance starting June 29 will get extra 20% cashback upto Rs. 200/. When members use their Amazon Pay balance they can enjoy fast and easy checkouts, quicker refunds coupled with a secured shopping experience on Amazon.in.

    • Special Offers for every member – All Prime members who shop on Prime Day will get assured offers worth Rs.1100/-from MakeMyTrip, BookMyShow and Swiggy.com. Customers using HDFC Bank debit and credit cards can avail a 15% cashback of upto Rs.2000/ on a minimum purchase of Rs. 5000/

    • Explore Deals you’re into – Find deals organized by most shopped for themes. From gadget gurus to those who are fashion forward – find your deals even faster. Watch, track and shop deals on-the-go with deal alerts on the Amazon App.

    Prime Day will start early on Amazon Prime Video with a stream-fest from 5 – 10th July. Six latest Indian and International blockbusters will be launched over six days, starting July 5th. July 10th marks the premiere of India’s first Amazon Original, the thrilling Inside Edge.

  • Amazon’s Amit Agarwal promoted as SVP in parent company

    MUMBAI: Amazon.com has promoted its India country head Amit Agarwal to the level of senior vice-president. Agarwal, who will continue to remain the India head for now, was the vice president at Amazon earlier. The company confirmed the news in an emailed statement.

    “This indicates how excited Amazon is about the progress the company is making in India, and the opportunity Amazon sees ahead,” it added.

    Amazon CEO and president Jeff Bezos recently included Agarwal in a senior leadership team that reports directly to him.

    Amazon entered India in June 2013, years after Flipkart (2007) and Snapdeal (2010) started. It has made more than $3 billion investments in the country and has $2 billion in its plan.

    Competition is further heating up as the Chinese e-tailer Alibaba gears up for a stronger play in India through Paytm.

  • e-comm: Amazon gung-ho on India sales; dares Flipkart

    e-comm: Amazon gung-ho on India sales; dares Flipkart

    MUMBAI: Amazon, the global e-commerce giant, paid Rs 40 crore to acquire Westland Ltd’s publishing arm, thus giving it access to local content and a library of popular books, which continue to be a popular item on India’s e-commerce. It aims to push higher sales of its Kindle readers in India. The acquisition, which includes Mikros, Tranquebar and EastWest, may aid Amazon compete with Flipkart.

    Westland, a unit of Trent, a Tata company, received Rs 9.5 crore from Amazon to part with 26%, with the option to buy out the remainder. Without disclosing the number of users, Amazon India offers over three million books to Kindle users. Amazon India vice-president and country manager Amit Agarwal said in a statement that their acquisition continues their commitment to India, enabling Amazon to bring Westland’s learned authors and their books to even more customers in India and around the world.

    Amazon is gung-ho about its investments in India and the response it had received from sellers and customers. Amazon CFO Brian T. Olsavsky said Amazon, which just reported quarterly profits, indicated that its India investments are starting to show results but may impact international margins as it plans to go whole hog to conquer the significant internet market.

    Amazon, which is investing in digital content, plans to launch its VOD platform Prime in India soon. Prime is one of the top selling units based on Amazon.in. Being a third-party market has caused a lot of invention for Amazon.

    Amazon’s finance chief also indicated that the company would continue to add resources to India. Over the past two months, Amazon has outsold Flipkart in terms of monthly sales, Mint reported in September. However, including sales from Jabong and Myntra, Flipkart continues to leave Amazon behind. Amazon’s India business, which is aggressively expanding its consumer products and fashion categories, aims to launch its global programme for start-ups called Launchpad in India shortly.

    Amazon’s team in India has been very creative — it creates on its own, from delivery stations to working with small merchants. Amazon is happy with both, the seller engagement as well as the customer engagement.

  • e-comm: Amazon gung-ho on India sales; dares Flipkart

    e-comm: Amazon gung-ho on India sales; dares Flipkart

    MUMBAI: Amazon, the global e-commerce giant, paid Rs 40 crore to acquire Westland Ltd’s publishing arm, thus giving it access to local content and a library of popular books, which continue to be a popular item on India’s e-commerce. It aims to push higher sales of its Kindle readers in India. The acquisition, which includes Mikros, Tranquebar and EastWest, may aid Amazon compete with Flipkart.

    Westland, a unit of Trent, a Tata company, received Rs 9.5 crore from Amazon to part with 26%, with the option to buy out the remainder. Without disclosing the number of users, Amazon India offers over three million books to Kindle users. Amazon India vice-president and country manager Amit Agarwal said in a statement that their acquisition continues their commitment to India, enabling Amazon to bring Westland’s learned authors and their books to even more customers in India and around the world.

    Amazon is gung-ho about its investments in India and the response it had received from sellers and customers. Amazon CFO Brian T. Olsavsky said Amazon, which just reported quarterly profits, indicated that its India investments are starting to show results but may impact international margins as it plans to go whole hog to conquer the significant internet market.

    Amazon, which is investing in digital content, plans to launch its VOD platform Prime in India soon. Prime is one of the top selling units based on Amazon.in. Being a third-party market has caused a lot of invention for Amazon.

    Amazon’s finance chief also indicated that the company would continue to add resources to India. Over the past two months, Amazon has outsold Flipkart in terms of monthly sales, Mint reported in September. However, including sales from Jabong and Myntra, Flipkart continues to leave Amazon behind. Amazon’s India business, which is aggressively expanding its consumer products and fashion categories, aims to launch its global programme for start-ups called Launchpad in India shortly.

    Amazon’s team in India has been very creative — it creates on its own, from delivery stations to working with small merchants. Amazon is happy with both, the seller engagement as well as the customer engagement.

  • Amazon India seasonal sale boosts Prime Video subscribers

    Amazon India seasonal sale boosts Prime Video subscribers

    Mumbai: Amazon’s bet seems to have paid off. In the past few weeks, it has been accumulating original content and striking content licensing deals. Amazon had been firming up its content strategy by tying up with several Bollywood production houses for original TV shows and films while it was gearing up for its Prime Video service launch in India. Among the few notable deals it has made were with Dharma Productions and T-Series. Amazon Prime Video, the paid subscription service of Amazon India, yesterday emerged as the highest selling product for the e-tailer.

    Amazon’s five-day festive season sale period ended on Wednesday, and one out every three units sold was membership of Prime Videos, Amazon India country manager, Amit Agarwal, told FE. The e-tailer moreover claims to have sold more than 5 million units over a period of five days. The paid subscribers of Amazon Prime will be default users of the video streaming service called Prime Videos.

    After the entry of global video over-the-top (OTT) player like Netflix in India early this year, Amazon is the second large player to announce the launch of its video streaming service in India. Amazon India is presently selling the membership at a 50 per cent discounted rate of Rs 499 for a year.

    “Despite a slump in the market, Amazon India has been growing at a rate of 150% over the the last three years. This sale was three times bigger and 30 times bigger than last Diwali,” said Agarwal. Mobile, fashion and lifestyle and Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) were the other top selling categories on the platform during the sale period.

    The e-tailers claim that mobile saw a five times jump in number of orders placed apart from television which grew by 25 times. While large appliances saw a seven times growth in terms of sale.

    According to Agarwal, the platform saw a five times growth in the number of new customers who came online to shop, compared to last year. Tier 2 and smaller towns contributed to 70% of the orders. Agarwal added that during the festive season sale period, Amazon continued to witness high traffic both on the website as well as on its mobile app. “80% of the traffic came through mobile. In fact, the app recorded seven time growth in direct traffic,” he explained.

    Amazon has also signed deals with Excel Entertainment to create original TV shows for the platform and with Vishesh Films for its film catalogue. Given the backdrop of competition in the OTT space, Amazon is also reportedly participating in the IPL tender with a keen interest to bid for the digital rights.

    As a result of the partnerships with T-Series, Amazon Prime members would soon enjoy a wide variety of some of the best Bollywood movies in the country, all within a few weeks of their theatrical release, said Amazon Video India director and country head Nitesh Kripalani.

    Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos had announced that the company would be investing an additional $3 billion in India, taking the total investment to more than $5 billion. It reportedly plans to invest around $300 million in producing original content for India. Amazon had launched its Prime subscription service in India in July.