Optiemus signs a binding term sheet for 51.1% of a CMF products JV with Nothing; the stock closes 20% higher
The board approved a JV with Nothing for CMF phones — an initial 51.1% at face value — plus entry into CMF's Series A. The stock closed at ₹708.90, 0.6% below its 52-week high.
₹708.90
Sep 22 close, +20.0%
MID-CAP
by market cap ≈ ₹6,327.7 Cr
−0.6%
adjusted high ₹713 (Sep 25, 2025)
51.1%
of the proposed JV, at face value
₹883.0 Cr
consolidated, +102.8% YoY
80.3 lakh
vs 1.9 lakh shares on Sep 21
At 12:30 IST on September 22, mid-session, Optiemus Infracom told the exchanges its board had approved a binding term sheet with Nothing Electronics Private Limited to set up a joint venture for CMF products. The stock finished the session at ₹708.90, up 20.0% from Monday's close of ₹590.75, on 80.3 lakh shares — about 42 times the previous session's volume — and within 0.6% of its adjusted 52-week high of ₹713.
A 51.1% stake in a JV for CMF products, at face value
Board approves a binding term sheet with Nothing for a CMF products JV
The board, at a meeting held from 12:00 noon to 12:15 P.M. on September 22, approved expanding the company's existing partnership with Nothing Electronics Private Limited — described in the filing as an affiliate of a London-based technology company — by entering into a binding term sheet to establish a joint venture for the commercialization and sale of CMF products, including but not limited to mobile phones and their sub-assemblies/components. Subject to conditions precedent, approvals and definitive agreements, Optiemus will initially acquire 51.1% of the JV's equity share capital at face value.
Read:The accompanying press release frames this as evolving the manufacturing JV the two companies announced in September 2025 into a single Indian entity uniting manufacturing, ownership and R&D — with Optiemus also joining CMF's upcoming Series A round. No investment amounts, JV capitalization or timelines are disclosed at the term-sheet stage, so the 20% move is pricing the structure, not a stated number.
BSE filing, Sep 22, 12:30 ISTThe disclosure annexure fills in the governance mechanics. Initially, Optiemus and Nothing each appoint one nominee director to the proposed JV's board. Optiemus currently holds no shares in Nothing ("Nil" per the filing), Nothing is not related to the promoter or promoter group, and the transaction is not a related-party transaction. Everything hinges on the conditions precedent and the definitive agreements — the term sheet is binding, but the JV company does not exist yet.
The press release adds the second leg: alongside the JV, Optiemus will join Nothing's upcoming Series A investment round for the CMF brand, which the release says sets CMF on a path to become a majority Indian-owned, independent smartphone brand. Neither the size of that round, its pricing, nor the stake Optiemus would end up with is disclosed. The release positions the whole construct as taking forward the strategic manufacturing joint venture announced in September 2025, which established India as a production hub for Nothing and CMF products.
We have already proven at Nothing that an independent brand can build its own design, software and engineering capabilities, create a global brand and ship millions of products around the world. Now we want to bring that blueprint to India through CMF, together with Optiemus, and build it here, for the world.
— Carl Pei, CEO of Nothing — press release filed with the exchanges, Sep 22, 2026
The scale claims in the release are the companies' own, but they are specific: CMF, founded by Nothing in 2023, sells in more than 40 countries, and grew India volumes 83% year-on-year in 2025, which the release — citing Counterpoint Research's Q4 2025 India shipment tracker — calls the country's fastest-growing smartphone brand. The stated ambition is a full-stack smartphone R&D capability in India across six disciplines (industrial design, mechanical, camera, software, connectivity and component engineering), with the intellectual property held locally. Ashok Gupta, Optiemus's Executive Chairman, tied the plan to MeitY's Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme in his quoted remarks.
A 20% session on 42× volume, into the 52-week high
Tuesday's close leaves the stock 0.6% below its adjusted 52-week high of ₹713 (set September 25, 2025) and roughly 146% above its March 30, 2026 low of ₹288. One price marker worth holding onto: in August the company allotted 9,05,331 equity shares in two tranches (7,38,081 on August 4 for ₹49,61,74,952.25, i.e. about ₹49.6 crore; 1,67,250 on August 11 for ₹11,24,33,812.50, i.e. about ₹11.2 crore) on conversion of warrants issued at ₹672.25 apiece to non-promoter allottees — a price the stock traded below for all of August and September until Tuesday's move carried the close through it. Promoter holding was 72.13% as of July 21, 2026.
Revenue doubled in Q1 FY27; margin narrowed
The June quarter, reported on August 4, is the financial backdrop to the JV story: consolidated revenue of ₹883.0 crore was up 102.8% on the ₹435.4 crore of Q1 FY26, while net profit rose 45.8% to ₹21.2 crore — operating margin narrowed to 3.44% from 6.15% a year earlier. The filings in scope do not break down what drove that mix, and the market's first read was cool: the stock fell 5.6% on August 5, the first session after the after-close results filing. Read together with today's announcement, the revenue doubling shows the manufacturing engine scaling, while the JV — if it completes — is the company's stated route to participating in brand ownership and R&D rather than production alone. That last step, to be clear, is the press release's framing of intent, not a completed transaction.
The filings that turn a term sheet into a company
Definitive agreements
The term sheet is binding, but the JV is subject to conditions precedent, approvals and definitive agreements. The follow-on filings should reveal the JV's name, capitalization and final shareholding structure.
Series A terms
The press release commits Optiemus to joining CMF's upcoming Series A round — with no size, price or resulting stake disclosed. Any number here materially changes how the deal can be assessed.
Q2 FY27 results
Whether the doubled revenue run-rate (₹883 crore in Q1 FY27) holds, and whether operating margin recovers from 3.44%.
AGM — Sep 28
The 33rd AGM is scheduled for Monday, September 28, 2026, via video conferencing, per the September 5 notice.
What is verified today is narrow: a binding term sheet, an initial 51.1% of a yet-to-be-formed JV at face value, one board nominee each, and a stated intent to join CMF's Series A. What is not yet on record is everything that gives those terms financial weight — investment amounts, the JV's capitalization, the Series A's size and the timeline to definitive agreements. Tuesday's 20% move, on roughly 42 times the prior session's volume, priced the announcement itself.
The structure is unusual enough to warrant the attention: a listed Indian electronics manufacturer taking majority ownership in the commercialization vehicle of a global smartphone brand, with the press release explicitly framing locally held IP and full-stack R&D as the goal. Whether the economics match the framing is exactly what the next set of filings — definitive agreements and Series A terms — will establish.
Informational and educational content only. Not investment advice.