Piramal may sell stakes in Shriram entities; MT Educare seeks funding for online app

By Ankit Agarwal

  • 23 Apr 2019
Credit: Pixabay

The Piramal Group, led by billionaire Ajay Piramal, is in early stages of discussions to sell its stakes in three companies of the Shriram Group in a deal valued at about Rs 9,000 crore, The Economic Times reported, citing three persons in the know.

Piramal, which began investing in the Shriram Group in 2013, is in talks with Anand Mahindra among others for the stake sale, the report added.

The group owns 20% in Shriram Capital and 10% each in Shriram Transport Finance and Shriram City Union Finance, said the report.

In 2017, Piramal had attempted to sell off its holding in Shriram when the latter had proposed to merge its businesses with financial services conglomerates IDFC Group. However, the talks fell through as the two entities could not agree upon a deal structure and valuation.

Meanwhile, Mumbai-based education services firm MT Educare Ltd is in talks with a number of private equity and venture capital firms to raise capital to scale its online education app Robomate, The Economic Times reported, citing two people privy to the development.

PE firm New Silk Route and VC firm Bertelsmann India Investments are among the investors the firm is in discussions with, the report added.

MT Educare, which is majority-owned by school chain operator Zee Learn Ltd, part of Subhash Chandra-led Essel Group, is aiming for a valuation of Rs 700-1,000 crore for Robomate, ET stated.

Last month, ET had reported that MT Educare had initiated discussions with PE firms Gaja Capital and WestBridge Capital Partners and VC firm Lightspeed Venture Partners to raise capital for Robomate.

The education services firm became a listed entity in April 2012. Besides students from class IX, it offers coaching classes to those appearing for engineering and medical entrance exams, chartered accountancy and business administration.