Big block deal at Airtel, Hindustan Lever’s ice cream play and how investors and companies can navigate Trump’s tariff war

Dear reader,

Bharti Airtel's promoter group entity, Indian Continent Investment Ltd (ICIL), has launched a block deal worth more than $1 billion. Ashwin Mohan reports that the transaction has been launched at a floor price of  Rs 1,862 per share, which is at a 3.15% discount to today's closing price. ICIL owns a 2.47% stake in Bharti Airtel, and the plan is to dilute around 0.8%.

Over at Hindustan Unilever, signs of a pick-up in consumption sentiment are prompting a new playbook. The household goods maker is doubling down on investments and sharpening its core portfolio. In an interview with Aishwarya Nair and Bodhisatva Ganguli, chief financial officer Ritesh Tiwari said he expects gross margins to improve, though any gains will be reinvested in the business to drive sales. The company is also moving ahead with the proposed demerger of its ice cream division, with a shareholder vote scheduled for August 12.

Now onto clean energy, which is getting lots of investor attention. Two major players are taking steps to tap the market. Hero Future Energies and CleanMax Enviro Energy Solutions are expected to file draft papers for their initial public offerings by next week, with Hero Future Energies looking to raise around Rs 4,000 crore and CleanMax eyeing over Rs 5,000 crore, reports Swaraj Singh Dhanjal. This move is part of India's clean energy sector's Rs 25,000-crore pipeline of IPOs over the next 12 months, driven by strong investor appetite for such businesses.

Interesting developments are afoot with a chill blowing through India-US trade relations. On a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it clear that India will not compromise on the interests of farmers, fishermen and dairy farmers, the government has also put out word that Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit India in late August, reports Moneycontrol. This comes a day after it was announced that PM Modi would be visiting China next month.

So, how are Indian companies responding to the Trump tariff war? Textile companies such as Raymond Lifestyles and Gokaldas Exports are diversifying sales to the UK and Europe, leveraging African units with lower tariffs to serve the US market, report Aishwarya Nair and Padmini Dhruvaraj. Indian pharma companies are adopting a multi-pronged strategy to shield themselves from potential tariff shocks, focusing on geographic diversification, supply chain resilience, and acquiring US assets, writes Vishwanath Pilla. Indian textile exports to the US stood at $10.05 billion in FY24, while Indian generics make up nearly half of all drugs covered by Medicare and commercial insurance plans.

The Modi government is mulling fresh incentives for exporters to help them diversify to key markets to deal with the tariff shocker, report Adrija Chatterjee and Meghna Mittal. The tariff war has sparked off fears of layoffs among MSMEs and key labour intensive sectors, write Adrija and Ishaan Gera.

On India’s decision to buy Russian oil, Nobel prize winning economist Abhijit Banerjee spoke to Priyansh Varma. The MIT professor agrees that India gains by buying cheap oil, but questions if the price is worth it. India continues to buy Russian oil, despite the Trump penalty, reports Shubangi Matghur. In this context, also read lawyer Faraz Alam Sheikh’s piece on how Indian companies buying Russian oil can avoid secondary sanctions.

On the big picture, do check out Madhuchanda Dey’s MC Pro research note on how investors can navigate the choppy waters and land pockets of opportunity. Also read ace investor Prashant Khema’s chat with N. Mahalakshmi where he argues that 2025 will remain a ‘normal year’ for investors and that India will come out just fine.

For perspective, more than half of India's exports to the US, valued at $63.5 billion, are now under threat due to Trump's 50% tariff hike, writes Ishaan Gera. However, as Adrija Chatterjee reports, around $30 billion worth of Indian exports, including pharmaceuticals and smartphones, have been exempted from these steeper duties. A Moneycontrol analysis shows that India could struggle to find alternative markets for key US exports worth $8.5 billion, in our data story of the day by Ishaan.

What about the macro implications? India's growth could take a hit, with economists predicting a 30-50 basis point impact on FY26 growth due to the latest 25% tariffs imposed by the US, reports Meghna Mittal. For a personal finance view, read Teena Jain Kaushal’s take on why some investors are turning to safe-haven assets such as gold and silver to protect their investments.

Going forward: what about the China+1 strategy? We had a vigorous debate on our pages today, with Sanjiv Shankaran taking the positive view that despite current tensions, China+1 remains a viable option, due to the long-term threat China poses to USA. Madhuchanda Dey, argues that Trump's tariffs could derail India's China Plus One ambition, emphasising the need for deep, long-term reforms ato make India attractive for global businesses.

And finally, if you are in the mood for some light boardroom gossip, don’t miss today’s MC Insider. Today’s edition features posts on a high-profile birthday, a founder in demand and a fundraising that has got rivals on alert. Catch all the chatter here.

Regards,

Nalin Mehta

Managing Editor

Moneycontrol