Education innovation needs more than algorithms

Niger proposes N1.2tr for 2025 fiscal yearMumbai: For some, Christmas came a fortnight earlier. The $4.1-billion Vishal Mega Mart listing earlier this month turned out to be the biggest payday for its key shareholder, Partners Group, in its 10-year-old India presence, but the public issue also set records for another unique distinction. The discount retailer's share sale also marks the highest capital gains for any private equity investor ever in the country. At $3.1 billion, gains in the six-year-old investment for Partners exceed Carlyle's $2-billion profits from SBI Cards by more than 50%, data culled from publicly available sources showed. Across VC and PE funds, though, Tiger Global still tops the charts: it made a total of $3.5 billion in gains from its phased selloff of equity in Flipkart, which was among the most it had generated from a single company globally. In the PE space now, Partners has taken the crown-another testament of the depth of the Indian capital markets and its ability to generate stratospheric returns for patient investors. 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Partners alone invested ₹3,000 crore ($420 million) in the transaction. Subsequently, a small tranche of capital was infused during Covid, said people in the know, but it was largely unused. TPG in 2010 had taken over a debt-ridden Vishal Retail for a paltry ₹70 crore. After investing ₹750 crore to turn Vishal around, TPG and Shriram Group flipped the asset to a new set of owners, making 4X dollar returns and 6X rupee returns in eight years. The ₹8,000 ($944 million)-crore IPO saw purely secondary sale of shares by the two sponsors via an offer for sale. The retailer's shares closed at ₹111.93 apiece on listing day, a gain of 44% over the initial share sale price. The sale drew bids for over 27 times the shares offered. At IPO, Partners Group realised a part of its beneficial shareholding in Vishal for $633 million (₹5,380 crore). At that closing price, the rest of Partners Group's stake is worth $2.9 billion (₹25,700 crore). Partial Exit Therefore, the combined value of its ownership - both realised and unrealised - stands at around $3.5 billion (₹29,750 crore). Subtracting the initial investment, the capital gains, or profits, stand at $3.1 billion (₹26,350 crore). Some of this is unrealised profits. But given that Vishal is now listed and its shares liquid and saleable, with the equity ownership tied to the actual trading price, the gains will be easier to calculate, believe analysts, unlike unrealised profits for a private company. In the past 12-18 months, PEs have exited large positions via open market trades (block deals). These include KKR's mega exit from Max Healthcare or EQT's decision to exit its entire 26.63% stake in Coforge Ltd (formerly NIIT Technologies) for ₹7,684 crore to multiple investors through bulk deals. "Even if you assume a slight discount to current market price, if Partners chooses to sell its residual shares (76% is still owned by Partners and Kedaara), the capital gains would still be higher than other PE investments in India," said an official in the know. "Given the large position, this might not be saleable in a single tranche. But if you assume that these will be realised over some years, then the shares will also benefit from appreciation in price as the company's earnings grow. On the flipside, it may also drop." Since listing, the share has dropped 9.14%. However, investor expectations of a gain in the share price in the future have been baked into the decision making of current institutional buyers, such as JP Morgan, HSBC, Axis Mutual Fund, among others. They expect 15%+ gains per annum for any new investments they are making, given the cost of capital, said an institutional investor who bought into the stock during the IPO. 'Great Team, Robust Growth' "The successful outcome was due to the backing of one of the best management teams, addressing a very large and under-penetrated market," said Manas Tandon, partner, Partners Group. "I had the benefit of having a ringside view during TPG's journey and had the conviction in 2018 that a lot of the lego blocks were in place for the business to take off. Based on this conviction, we were able to back it with a very large cheque at the time." The big gains in Vishal, a 23-year-old retailer, have come from the company's revenue and Ebitda growth. That, in turn, was possible due to a strong rollout with new stores generating profits soon after opening. The continued double-digit same store sales growth, barring a brief period during Covid, and improved operating efficiency allowed for stable Ebitda margins. Focus on private labels also helped, believe industry players. Vishal Mega Mart reported sales of Rs 8,900 crore in FY24 — one-fifth of DMart’s sales, the market leader and India’s most valuable listed retailer. Half of the sales come from apparel, while general merchandise and FMCG contribute 25% each. Partners has invested $2.5 billion in the last decade in Indian and India-affiliated businesses. This, in turn, has generated returns of approximately $8.5 billion for the asset manager. In 2024, equity capital market transactions in India exceeded $11.5 billion. ET Year-end Special Reads An Indian's guide to moving abroad as the world looks for 'better' immigrants The year of the HNIs: How India's rich splurged in 2024 (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel )

America’s banking regulator says that it’s costing more to supervise the country’s largest financial institutions. As such, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced Wednesday (Nov. 27) that it was hiking its assessment rates for 2025. The increases are chiefly for larger banks and other institutions requiring more supervision, the OCC said in a news release. “The OCC increased the rates in the general assessment fee schedule for assets above $40 billion by 16 percent to reflect the increased cost of supervising the largest institutions,” the release said. “The OCC increased all other rates in the general assessment fee schedule by 2.65 percent to account for inflation.” The assessment schedule will still include a surcharge for banks that need increased supervisory resources, the OCC added. Banks subject to the surcharge calculate this fee by multiplying the sum of the general assessment — based on the bank’s book assets up to $40 billion — and bank credit union association assessments by 50% for 3-rated banks and 100% for 4- and 5-rated banks. For next year, the OCC is hiking the asset cap from $40 billion to $250 billion, reflecting growth in the banking sector since the asset cap was last raised in 2014. “The 2025 assessment rates will provide the OCC with sufficient resources to recruit, train, and retain the talent and to update the agency’s technology systems as necessary to perform its important mission to maintain the safety, soundness, and fairness of the federal banking system,” the release said. The new assessment rates will go into effect Jan. 1, and will be reflected in assessments paid on March 31 and Sept. 30 of next year. In other OCC news, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu said last week he supports “federal payments regulation and a chartering regime for nonbanks.” Testifying the House Financial Services Committee, Hsu said that if FinTechs remain licensed and regulated at the state level only, some will likely exploit regulatory gaps. “I support the Treasury Department’s call for federal payments regulation and a chartering regime for nonbanks,” Hsu said in the statement. “If well designed, such a system — which could be modeled on the dual banking system with distinct roles for federal versus state authorities — would provide the guardrails necessary to close regulatory gaps, protect consumers and promote more responsible innovation and competition.”Trump Reportedly Backs Musk, Ramaswamy In Support Of Merit Visas Amid MAGA Turmoil

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay's surest path to the NFL playoffs is a division championship. The Buccaneers will need help to repeat in the NFC South , but only if they first and foremost give themselves a chance. That means winning their remaining games at home against Carolina and New Orleans, while the Atlanta Falcons lose at least once in the final two weeks of the regular season. The Bucs (8-7) and Falcons share the best record in the division, however Atlanta holds the tiebreaker after sweeping the season series between the teams. Tampa Bay, which has won three consecutive division titles, is the only NFC team that has made the playoffs each of the past four seasons. “We’ve got to take care of business or else we’ve got no shot,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said after a 26-24 loss at Dallas cost the Bucs control of the NFC South race. “This one, we've got to take it on the chin,” Mayfield added. “It's a short week. It's Christmas week. We've got to focus on Carolina and figure out a way to win.” If Atlanta is able to maintain its lead, Tampa Bay could make the postseason as a wild card if the Bucs win out and the Commanders lose twice. Coach Todd Bowles sounds confident that his players understand the challenge ahead and will clean up mistakes that contributed to the end of their four-game win streak. “We’ve got to win a ballgame (this week). If we don’t win a ballgame, we don’t give ourselves a chance,” Bowles said Monday. “We have to focus on us like we’ve been doing,” the coach added. “We have to correct the mistakes, and we have to go out and win Sunday, and we’ve got to win the next week, and then we’ll see what happens after that.” What's working The offense, which ranks third in the NFL at 389.8 yards per game, isn't a fluke. Despite losing to the Cowboys, Tampa Bay finished with 410 yards total offense. It was the team's fifth straight game — as well as an NFL-high ninth overall — with 400-plus yards. The Bucs are seventh in rushing (143.7 yards per game) after ranking 32nd each of the past two seasons. What needs helps The defense yielded 292 yards passing against the Cowboys, 226 of it in the first half when Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb had six catches for 100 yards and a touchdown. Bowles said shoddy tackling was the biggest issue — not poor coverage. Lamb had one reception for 5 yards after halftime. Stock up Mayfield's chemistry with rookie WR Jalen McMillan, who has 27 receptions for 336 yards and five TDs, continues to grow. McMillan had five catches for 57 yards and a touchdown — his fourth in the past three games — against Dallas. He was also the intended receiver on Mayfield's deep throw that CB Jourdan Lewis intercepted in the end zone to help the Cowboys hold off the Bucs in the closing minutes. Stock down Turnovers were costly against Dallas. The end-zone interception stopped the Bucs from cutting into a 26-17 deficit with 6:22 remaining in the fourth quarter. Rachaad White's fumble with 1:31 left ended any hope for a last-minute victory. On both plays, defenders ripped the ball out of the grasp of the offensive player. “We knew they were going to rake at the ball going into the ballgame," Bowles said. "We just have to have two hands on the ball, and we have to fight for it. We have to take better care of the football. That’s priority No. 1.” Injuries Bowles said it's too early to project the status of several starters for coming games, including S Antoine Winfield Jr. (knee), who has missed the past two games. TE Cade Otton (knee) and LB K.J. Britt (ankle) were inactive against the Cowboys, while reserve WR Sterling Shepard left during the game with a hamstring injury. Key number 80. Bucky Irving leads all NFL rookie RBs with 920 yards rushing. He needs 80 over the next two games to reach 1,000. He scored his seventh rushing touchdown against Dallas. That tied Errict Rhett and Lars Tate for the second-most rushing TDs by a rookie running back in franchise history. Doug Martin set the record of 11 in 2012. Next up Host Carolina on Sunday. ___ NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl Fred Goodall, The Associated Press

DAVIDSON, N.C. (AP) — Connor Kochera scored 34 points as Davidson beat Eastern Michigan 86-64 on Saturday. Kochera added five rebounds for the Wildcats (10-3). Bobby Durkin added 17 points while going 5 of 11 from the floor, including 3 for 7 from 3-point range, and 4 for 5 from the line while they also had five rebounds. Mike Loughnane shot 4 for 6 from beyond the arc to finish with 12 points. The Eagles (6-6) were led by Da'Sean Nelson, who recorded 16 points. Jalin Billingsley added 12 points and two steals for Eastern Michigan. Arne Osojnik also had 10 points. Davidson took the lead with 19:36 remaining in the first half and never looked back. The score was 41-21 at halftime, with Kochera racking up 16 points. Kochera scored 18 points in the second half to help lead the way as Davidson went on to secure a victory, outscoring Eastern Michigan by two points in the second half. Davidson plays Tuesday against George Mason on the road, and Eastern Michigan hosts Northern Illinois on Saturday. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .

Published 5:55 pm Monday, December 23, 2024 By Daily Herald With fresh snow in many parts of the state, anglers and others recreating on the ice must keep in mind that snow can hinder ice-making and cover up potentially dangerous areas, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. In addition, it’s vital people check the ice thickness frequently, and keep in mind the DNR’s ice thickness recommendations, which apply to new, clear ice (double them for white or snow-covered ice): • More than 4 inches for ice fishing or other activities on foot. • 5-7 inches for a snowmobile or a small ATV. • 7-8 inches for a side-by-side ATV. • 9-12 inches for a car. • 13-17 inches for a truck. • More than 20 inches for a large truck with a wheelhouse shelter. DNR Graphic When measuring the thickness of the ice, measure only the clear ice – not any slush or snow that’s settled on top of it. It’s important to keep in mind, too, that ice thickness and quality can vary even within a small area on the same body of water. DNR conservation officers report lakes throughout the state are attracting increasing numbers of anglers, and they expect things will be even busier over the holidays. COs continue reminding ice recreationalists of the importance of wearing safety gear such as ice picks and a life jacket or float coat, and to check the ice for themselves – not rely on someone else’s tracks, footprints, or social media post. “We understand and share in people’s excitement for getting onto the ice and making the most of a short season,” said Col. Rodmen Smith, director of the DNR Enforcement Division. “But there’s nothing good to be gained by pushing the envelope. There are plenty of good ice-fishing opportunities out there, but please check the ice yourself and take our thickness guidelines seriously.” Every year, unexpected falls through thin ice result in serious injury or death. Checking the ice thickness with a spud bar, auger, or other device is the best way to prevent falling through. Wearing a life jacket or float coat is the best way to avert tragedy should someone fall through the ice, since the initial shock of falling into cold water can incapacitate even strong swimmers. A good set of ice picks will help the person get out, and a cell phone, whistle or other communications device makes it more likely they would be able to call for help. Make sure to let someone on shore know where you’re going and when you plan to return. For more information, visit the DNR’s ice safety (mndnr.gov/icesafety) and boating safety webpages (mndnr.gov/boatingsafety).