Markets & Finance

Ashland Inc. is reported to be working with Citigroup and Lazard on a potential full company sale, following an activist campaign by Ancora Alternatives and a July 2026 cooperation agreement that added two new independent directors to the board. Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, identified Apollo, Carlyle, Advent International, and existing shareholder Standard Industries as parties in contact, though Ashland has filed no SEC disclosure confirming a formal strategic review. Standard Industries holds a confirmed 7.873% equity stake and approximately 9.89% total economic exposure per Schedule 13D/A filings, but no filing signals a shift from investment to acquisition intent.

Blackstone-backed Horizon Industrial Parks opened its Rs 2,600 crore fresh-issue IPO on August 17, 2026, with Rs 2,250 crore of proceeds designated for debt repayment against total borrowings of Rs 6,884 crore. Combined with a Rs 1,650 crore pre-IPO raise completed in December 2025, the two transactions are intended to reduce the company's debt load by roughly two-thirds. Day 1 public subscription was modest at approximately 0.06 times outside the anchor book, which had already secured Rs 1,167.75 crore from 54 investors led by Carmignac at Rs 300 crore.

South India jewellery retailer Lalithaa Jewellery Mart opened its three-day mainboard IPO on 17 August 2026, priced at ₹190–₹201 per share and targeting ₹1,700 crore in total proceeds. The company plans to deploy roughly ₹1,033 crore of fresh-issue funds to open 10 new stores, while promoter M. Kiran Kumar Jain will pocket the ₹500 crore offer-for-sale portion. Day-one provisional data showed the book 69% subscribed by 17:00 IST, with listing on BSE and NSE scheduled for 24 August 2026.

Eltek Ltd. will release its second-quarter 2026 financial results before market open on August 18, 2026, following a first quarter in which revenue fell 18.75% year-over-year to $10.4 million and the company recorded a $1.9 million gross loss, reversing a $2.2 million gross profit from Q1 2025. The quarter was attributed to backlog conversion delays, logistics disruptions, and a $1.3 million currency headwind from U.S. dollar depreciation against the Israeli shekel. Key data points not yet public include Q2 revenue, gross margin, updated backlog figures, and the status of new coating-line capacity that management has flagged as central to its 2026 throughput targets.

Baidu will report second quarter 2026 results before U.S. markets open on August 18, 2026, against a backdrop of a 22% year-over-year decline in online marketing revenue and 79% growth in AI Cloud Infrastructure revenue recorded in Q1 2026. Capital expenditures in Q1 nearly doubled year over year to RMB 5.92 billion, pushing free cash flow to negative RMB 3.25 billion, and the company has issued no quantitative Q2 guidance. Analyst consensus from 15 contributors pegs Q2 revenue at RMB 33.2 billion, roughly 3.4% above Q1 actuals, with the key open questions being whether advertising declines narrowed and whether elevated capital spending continued.

H World Group reported Q2 2026 group revenue of RMB7.1 billion, up 10.8% year-over-year, with first-half operating margin expanding to 28.3% from 24.3%. The company raised its full-year revenue growth guidance to 4–8% from a prior range of 2–6%, and its board approved a new three-year, US$2.5 billion shareholder return plan replacing the existing dividend policy. China domestic operations drove the gains with 14.9% segment revenue growth, while the international segment declined 5.8%, weighed down by Middle East properties and occupancy softness.