Spice Global

Last updated
Spice Global
Company type Private
Industry Conglomerate
PredecessorModi Corp
MCorp Global
Spice Corp
Founded1980;44 years ago (1980)
Founder Bhupendra Kumar Modi
Defunct2018;6 years ago (2018)
Headquarters
Singapore
,
India
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
 Ozi Amanat (CIO) [1]
Total assets Increase2.svg US$ 2 billion (2011) [2]
Number of employees
10,000
Website Spice Global

DigiSpice (aka Spice Global) was an Indian conglomerate headquartered in Singapore. The company operates in the sectors of telecom, finance, entertainment and technology. They operate internationally in Los Angeles, New York, Kuala Lumpur, London, Dubai, Nepal, Bangladesh, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Shenzhen.

Contents

In 2014, the company's aggregated assets totalled US$2 billion with over 10,000 employees worldwide. [2]

Spice Global is planning to offer full-fledged banking service, with focus on smart banking, which is showing a 227% annual growth, to its customers. It has applied to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a license. The company is already offering financial services through Wall Street Finance, which has 6,000 sub-agents across India, including Vijaya Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak. [3]

In 2014 the company made an aggressive bid to acquire the American business magazine Forbes Media, from the Forbes family and the private equity group Elevation Partners. Ozi Amanat valued the company and acquisition at $300–$500m and quoted it as one of the world’s most brilliant brands. [4] The bid for Forbes was short listed as the 3 top bidders for acquisition, beating Time Inc, Fox, Bloomberg, Warren Buffett and other major investors.

History

Spice Global was established in 1980 by B. K. Modi under the name, Modi Corp. Later, the company came to be known as MCorp Global and Spice Corp, before it finally became Spice Global.

In 2009, a bid between Virgin Mobile and Spice Global was held for the 3G contract of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited. [5] The deal was eventually called off due to regulation issues and a deal was not signed for the network. [6]

Spice Telecom was sold to Idea Cellular in 2008. [7]

The company abandoned plans for a US$ 500 million IPO when the Dubai Financial Market General Index dropped 65 percent in 2009. [8] The decision where to hold the IPO was withheld from the general public with Singapore, Hong Kong, London, and the US as strongly speculated possibilities. [9] [10] However, plans in 2012 revealed Spice Global would be listed in London. [11] [12] Modi expects to raise US$ 1 billion in the listing where London has agreed to the listing. [13]

In May 2023, the Times of India reported that Spice Money, a subsidiary of Spice Global, was partnering with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to strengthen its reach across India. [14] Spice Money was founded in 2015 and aims to develop financial strategies for rural customers in India in saving, credit, and commerce. The partnership with BCG will seek to identify financial areas that demand greater attention and support in rural communities.

Proposed Operations

Spice Global Group plans to expand its footprint in Malaysia. Spice Global has a presence in Malaysia in the field of mobile software and hardware technology through Spice CSL. Spice Global had earlier taken over the Malaysian mobile company, CSL. [15] The company did a business worth over US$100 million in Malaysia in 2012 and hopes to breach US$200 million (RM618 million) by 2014. This year, Spice CSL will launch two new smartphones and one tablet in Malaysia. The company is currently in talks with Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd for strategic partnerships for its proposed banking business.

Spice Global is interested in entering the Malaysian healthcare sector and is in talks with IHH Healthcare Bhd for a partnership. The company also plans to buy a property in Putrajaya.

Awards and honors

Subsidiaries

Board of directors

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ING Group</span> Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation

The ING Group is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, wholesale banking, private banking, asset management, and insurance services. With total assets of US$967.8 billion, it is one of the biggest banks in the world, and consistently ranks among the largest banks globally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SoftBank Group</span> Japanese investment holding company

SoftBank Group Corp. is a Japanese multinational investment holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan which focuses on investment management. The group primarily invests in companies operating in technology that offer goods and services to customers in a multitude of markets and industries ranging from the internet to automation. With over $100 billion in capital at its onset, SoftBank's Vision Fund is the world's largest technology-focused venture capital fund. Fund investors included sovereign wealth funds from countries in the Middle East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vodafone</span> British multinational telecommunications company

Vodafone Group Plc is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reliance Communications</span> Indian telecommunications company

Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM) was an Indian mobile network provider headquartered in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra that offered voice and 2G and 3G and 4G data services. In February 2019, the company filed for bankruptcy as it was unable to sell assets to repay its debt. It has an estimated debt of ₹500 billion against assets worth ₹180 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maybank</span> Malaysian bank

Malayan Banking Berhad is a Malaysian universal bank, with key operating "home markets" of Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. According to the 2020 Brand Finance report, Maybank is Malaysia's most valuable bank brand, the fourth-top brand amongst the ASEAN countries and ranked 70th among the world’s most valuable bank brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telekom Malaysia</span> Malaysian telecommunications company

Telekom Malaysia Berhad or simply TM is a Malaysian telecommunications company founded in 1984. Beginning as the national telecommunications company for fixed line, radio, and television broadcasting services, it has evolved to become the country's largest provider of broadband services, data, fixed line, pay television, and network services. TM ventured into the LTE space with the launch of TMgo, its 4G offering. TM's 850 MHz service was rebranded as unifi Mobile in January 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunil Mittal</span> Indian industrialist and philanthropist

Sunil Bharti Mittal is an Indian industrialist and philanthropist. He is the founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, which has diversified interests in telecom, insurance, real estate, education, malls, hospitality, Agri and food besides other ventures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maxis Communications</span> Malaysian telecommunications company

Maxis Berhad is a communications service provider in Malaysia. It is one of the oldest and largest telecommunications companies in the country. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, it provides a variety of communication products, applications and value added services for consumers, large enterprises as well as small & medium business owners. Maxis uses the dialing prefixes of "011 12000000 through 12499999", "012", "014-2", and "017". The majority of the company's stake is owned by Malaysian billionaire, Ananda Krishnan. Its coverage is from Arau (Perlis) to Long Pasia (Sabah).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dialog Axiata</span> Sri Lankan telecommunications company

Dialog Axiata PLC, is one of Sri Lanka's largest telecommunications service providers, and the country's largest mobile network operator with over 17 million subscribers which amounts to 57% of the Sri Lankan mobile market. Dialog is a subsidiary of Axiata Group Berhad which owns 73.75% controlling stake of the company, while Bharti Airtel owns 10.36%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">América Móvil</span> Mexican multinational telecommunications company

América Móvil, S.A.B. de C.V. is a Mexican telecommunications corporation headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico. It is the 7th largest mobile network operator in the world in terms of equity subscribers, as well as one of the largest corporations in the world. América Móvil is a Forbes Global 2000 company. As of Dec 31, 2023, América Móvil had 310.1 million wireless subscribers, and 73.7 million fixed revenue generating units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridge Alliance</span>

The Bridge Alliance is a business alliance of 34 major mobile telecommunications companies in Asia, Australia, Africa and the Middle East. It uses connectivity and a suite of integrated value-added services, including IoT/M2M, Optimization and Enterprise Mobility, for all alliance members' subscribers while roaming on each other's networks. The concept is similar to that of the FreeMove alliance in Europe, with whom the Bridge Alliance has a partnership.

PCCW Mobile HK Limited previously known as Mandarin Communications Limited, was a subsidiary of PCCW involving mobile network operator of 2G and 3G in Hong Kong. It was previously owned by a Caymans-incorporated Hong Kong listed company Sunday Communications until 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spice Money</span> Indian rural fintech company

Spice Money (SML) is an Indian rural financial services company headquartered in Noida. It was founded in 2000 by Dilip Modi, who serves as the chairman and group CEO of DiGiSPICE Technologies. SML is a subsidiary of DiGiSPICE Technologies. It provides financial services, such as money transfer, cash deposit, account opening, bill payments, mini ATMs and more services. It engages with local individuals (Adhikari's) to assist its customers with banking requirements. In 2024, the company reported having 1.4 million Adhikari's on its platform.

Sandip Das is an Indian corporate executive in the telecom business. He serves as a senior advisor at Analysys Mason and a member of the advisory board of Sterlite Technologies. He has served as Deputy Managing Director of Hutchison Essar, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Maxis Communications, and headed Reliance Jio Infocomm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhupendra Kumar Modi</span> Singaporean businessman

Bhupendra Kumar Modi, popularly known as Dr. Modi, is an Indian-born Singaporean businessman, social entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is the founder-chairman of Smart Group of companies, the founder of the Global Citizen Forum and the global chairman of the Foreign Investors India Forum. He is also the Honorary President of the World Federation of United Nations Associations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preeti Malhotra</span>

Preeti Malhotra has been the Chairman of the Smart Bharat Group, a diversified conglomerate, with interests in reality, hospitality, entertainment, preventive healthcare, finance and also venturing into new age projects. This is a part of Smart Group which has its footprint across India, China, ASEAN, Middle-East, USA, UK and Africa. Preeti also serves as a director on the board of several group of companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Make in India</span> Government initiative to encourage manufacturing in India

Make in India is an initiative by the Government of India to create and encourage companies to develop, manufacture and assemble products in India and incentivize dedicated investments into manufacturing. The policy approach was to create a conducive environment for investments, develop a modern and efficient infrastructure, and open up new sectors for foreign capital.

Lim Kang Hoo is a Malaysian businessman and investor. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Iskandar Waterfront Holdings and Ekovest Berhad. Both corporations manage infrastructure construction projects, as well as mega property development. Tan Sri Lim is also linked to other public listed companies in directorial roles; PLS plantations, holding 40,000 acres in palm oil plantations and Knusford Berhad and Tebrau Teguh Berhad.

References

  1. ↑ Vikas SN (Jan 3, 2013). "Spice Global Appoints Ozi Amanat As Its Chief Investment Officer". Medianama.com. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Spice Retail acquires Global Access". The Hindu . January 22, 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  3. ↑ "Spice Global plans to approach RBI for bank licence". NDTV . PTI. 14 March 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  4. ↑ "Spice Global's BK Modi among top bidders for Forbes". The Economic Times . ET Bureau. 16 January 2014.
  5. ↑ "Virgin Mobile, Spice Group bid for 3G franchise deal of MTNL". New Delhi: The Economic Times. September 3, 2009. Archived from the original on September 14, 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  6. ↑ "MTNL plans fresh tender for 3G partner". New Delhi: The Economic Times. May 26, 2010. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  7. ↑ "Spice considers stake sale". The Hindu . NEW DELHI. June 4, 2008. Archived from the original on June 6, 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  8. ↑ "Spice Global to Seek New Exchange for I.P.O." The New York Times . June 22, 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  9. ↑ Ismail, Netty (June 22, 2009). "Indian Billionaire Modi Plans $1 Billion IPO, Scraps Dubai Plan". Bloomberg Businessweek . Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  10. ↑ K. V. KURMANATH (June 15, 2012). "Spice Global listing likely this fiscal". The Hindu . HYDERABAD. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  11. ↑ "#52 Bhupendra Kumar Modi". Forbes . 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  12. ↑ "Spice Global's Modi on Developing Markets, Planned IPO (Video)". Bloomberg Businessweek. Jan 13, 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  13. ↑ "Spice Group plans $1-b London listing". The Hindu . London. May 26, 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  14. ↑ "Fintech platform Spice Money partners BCG to improve its rural reach". The Times of India. 2023-05-11. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 2024-01-12.
  15. ↑ "Welcome to Spice CSL Group | Commitment Service Loyalty - Spice CSL". Archived from the original on 2013-01-05. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
  16. 1 2 "S Mobility to handover Handset business to S Mobile Device". News.indiamart.com. 2012-07-06. Archived from the original on 2013-02-16. Retrieved 2013-01-08.
  17. ↑ "Asia's 200 Best Under A Billion". Forbes . September 1, 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-06-13. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  18. ↑ "#65 Bhupendra Kumar Modi". Forbes . 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.