Blog

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) could be the next global heavyweight to tap India’s sizzling IPO market. The beverage giant is in early talks with bankers about a potential listing of its bottling arm, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt., a deal that may raise around $1 billion and value the business near $10 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. While no advisors have been formally appointed, discussions have gained momentum, and the listingif it proceedscould take shape next year. The timing and structure remain under consideration, suggesting Coca-Cola is still testing investor appetite before committing.

The India unit has become one of Coca-Cola’s biggest growth engines, serving over two million retailers and employing more than 5,000 people. Headquartered in Bengaluru, the bottler operates 14 manufacturing plants across 12 states, anchoring the company’s presence in the southern and western regions of the country. Coca-Cola recently sold a minority stake in the unit’s holding company to local conglomerate Jubilant Bhartia Group, a move viewed by investors as part of a broader effort to deepen Indian partnerships and prepare the ground for a potential public offering.

If the deal moves forward, Coca-Cola would join a wave of multinational names turning India into their listing arena of choicefollowing LG Electronics’ $1.3 billion float and Hyundai Motor’s record $3.3 billion debut. With Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio also preparing its own market entry, the next phase of India’s IPO boom could extend into 2026. For global investors, Coca-Cola’s move signals not just corporate confidence in India’s growth story but also the market’s evolution into a preferred launchpad for global consumer giants.

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

A Manhattan jury has found BNP Paribas liable for more than $20mn in damages to three Sudanese refugees after a trial over its role in banking the war-torn African nation’s ruling regime, in a case that could set the stage for far larger claims against it.

Lawyers for the refugees accused BNP Paribas of enabling human rights abuses, in a rare case of a global bank facing a jury trial for such allegations. It emerged from the French bank’s own 2014 guilty plea to criminal charges of processing blacklisted funds from Sudan and other sanctioned countries through the US financial system, for which it paid a $9bn penalty.

The refugees alleged BNP played a direct role in an “organised campaign of destruction” by Sudan’s former ruler, the dictator Omar al-Bashir, in the late 1990s and 2000s. They accused the bank of supporting Bashir’s government by giving it access to US financial markets and “petrodollars”, enabling it to buy weapons that it used against its populace as a result of oil revenue.

“The bank provided a blank cheque to the regime, which it used to perpetrate a reign of death and destruction on that targeted population,” said Michael Hausfeld, a lawyer for the refugees. “The bank knew of the genocidal use and chose to turn a blind eye of indifference to that human consequence.”

The bank was on Friday found liable of damages worth $7.3mn, $6.7mn and $6.75mn, to each of the three respective plaintiffs. But the initial case sets the stage for a series of future trials over allegations of forced displacement and human rights violations, including torture and rape.

The so-called bellwether verdict could open the door to potentially far more damages, as thousands of additional victims line up to assert claims. More than 20,000 Sudanese refugees were members of the class of victims certified in the case, according to Hausfeld, one of the law firms that represented them.

Pressure on BNP to settle the case would rise “for amounts much higher than we’ve estimated”, said Elliott Stein, a litigation risk analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “We don’t rule out a settlement in the low billions.”

BNP said it “believes that this result is clearly wrong” and had strong grounds for appeal. The verdict was “based on a distortion of controlling Swiss law and ignores important evidence the bank was not permitted to introduce”, it added. BNP also said it “should not have broader application beyond this decision” and only applies to the three plaintiffs.

The verdict against France’s largest bank comes after the trial started in New York last month, almost a decade after the case was first filed.

Sudan was rocked by several civil wars during Bashir’s rule that led to millions of deaths and displacements. He was charged by the International Criminal Court in The Hague with crimes against humanity, including war crimes, murder, torture and genocide, for turning the government’s armed forces against civilians in the course of a campaign against rebel groups. He was deposed in a coup in 2019.

The approval expands the use of the drug, Tezspire, as an add-on maintenance treatment of inadequately controlled chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps in adult and pediatric patients aged 12 years and older.

Sign up here.

The condition causes the sinuses to stay inflamed for 12 weeks or more and soft, noncancerous growths called polyps to form in the nose. Symptoms include facial pain, reduced sense of smell and nasal congestion.

Tezspire is already approved as a single-use pre-filled syringe in the U.S., EU and other countries for add-on maintenance treatment for severe asthma.

The approval is based on the results from a late-stage study in which the drug showed clinically meaningful reduction in the size of nasal polyps and reduced nasal congestion compared to placebo.

Tezspire also reduced the number of patients needing surgery for nasal polyps by 98% and reduced the need for oral steroids by 88%, the data showed.

Tezspire, chemically known as tezepelumab-ekko, is a monoclonal antibody that blocks TSLP — a key protein involved in triggering and sustaining inflammation linked to severe asthma and related conditions.

The approval “shows the versatility of TSLP inhibition beyond asthma and highlights both companies’ commitment to take a really important scientific insight and way to treat patients into broad application that can make a real difference for patients,” said Kate Chevlen, global commercial head of inflammation portfolio at Amgen.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab