Even as private equity majors have started making exits from their listed investments, other investors are also making the best of the rally. While (CVCI) has sold a small stake in the troubled edible oil-maker KS Oils, Caledonia Investments has also sold over 2 per cent stake in the textile firm Alok Industries.
Caledonia Investments sold 2.26 per cent stake in Alok Industries for Rs 38.35 crore during the last week. Caledonia, which invested in the company through foreign currency convertible bonds, held 10.19 per cent before the current sale. Its shareholding in Alok Industries, which is also backed by IL&FS Investment Managers’ Leverage India Fund, will come down to 7.92 per cent after the current transaction.
At 11:29 am, the scrip of Alok Industries was trading on the BSE at Rs 20.85 a unit, down over 3 per cent. Caledonia’s remaining stake is valued at approximately Rs 130 crore at this price.
The company started the process of selling its real estate assets last year, which was expected to fetch it over Rs 1,500 crore. The firm owns a tower at the Peninsula Business Park, Mumbai, for which players like Tishman Speyer, Singapore’s GIC and Morgan Stanley had expressed interest.
On Friday, even as the parent Citigroup made a strategic exit from India’s largest mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd (HDFC), its private equity arm CVCI sold less than 1 per cent stake in KS Oils for Rs 3.02 crore.
Shares of KS Oils were trading at Rs 8 a unit at 11:39 am on Monday, down nearly 6 per cent. CVCI had sold the shares at Rs 8.6 per unit. KS Oils shares fell over 85-90 per cent last year and the company was facing threats of liquidation, according to reports earlier this year.
CVCI was the first private equity investor in KS Oils, which was followed by entry of other investors like Baring Private Equity Asia and New Silk Route. Earlier today Baring increased its stake by another 2.2 per cent to 8.4 per cent by converting global depository receipts (GDRs) into equity shares.
Investor C. Sivasankaran also picked up 9-10 per cent stake in 2010 from the markets. CVCI had sold most of its stake in 2009-2010.
