Online marketplace eBay India today said it has signed an agreement with leading apparel companies to sell IPL merchandise of all the eight teams on its website.
EBay India has inked partnerships with -- Puma, Adidas and Reebok -- to bring fans from across the world an opportunity of accessing all IPL merchandise on the eBay India website, the firm said in a statement.
"We are delighted to be the one-stop shop for all IPL merchandise for cricket fans across the globe and are seeing a very good response in the first 10 days," eBay India Senior Manager (Pop Culture) Deepa Thomas said.
The IPL merchandise includes jerseys, t-shirts, caps, footwear and a wide range of fan gear from backpacks and key chains among others. This season’s official IPL merchandise is available till June 1, 2009, it said.
Reflecting confidence in corporate prospects for FY'09, which many companies are yet to close, 42 per cent of the respondents said they would achieve 90 per cent of their targets, while 43 per cent were looking at meeting 70-90 per cent of their targets.
Only 15 per cent said they would not attain more than 70 per cent of the targets, the survey added.
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A number of issues, ranging from increasing pricing pressure to slowdown in order bookings, have dogged corporates and they are focusing on cost reduction. About 71 per cent of them have re-evaluated business plans to preserve cash.
Companies have also laid 'high' emphasis on rightsizing (which includes redeployment and workforce sharing instead of layoffs), with 69 per cent opting for this step as a cost-cutting measure. Another 61 per cent indicated a 'high' possibility of a hiring freeze.
The respondents showed a preference for term loans from banks (69 per cent), debt or equity from group entities (61 per cent) and mezzanine finance (which gives lenders the right to convert to ownership in case of default) (37 per cent), instead of accessing the capital market (10 per cent) and going in for private equity (20 per cent).
A majority of the respondents (63 per cent) expected consolidation and were looking at mergers and acquisitions (58 per cent) for business growth.
The survey said the non-availability of leverage options had curtailed cross-border acquisitions significantly and with the global economy slowing faster, Indian companies have become more cautious.
On the other hand, inbound M&A is expected to pick up as multinationals look to expand presence in the Indian market, and that activity could see a growth rate of more than five per cent, the survey added.