BCCL inks Rs 32.5 cr investment deal with V2 Retail

Four years after making an exit from the debt-ridden Vishal Retail, media company Bennett, Coleman & Co (BCCL) has again decided to invest Rs 32.5 crores in Delhi-based retail chain operator V2 Retail (formerly known as Vishal Retail). The retail company will issued one convertible warrant at a price of Rs 32.5 crores on a preferential allotment basis. The move received shareholders’ approval at an extra ordinary general meeting on Monday.

Earlier, when V2 Retail, at its board meeting held in February, recommended issue of convertible warrants on preferential basis to BCCL, the stock touched a high of Rs 44.80 and a low of Rs 43.60, during the day. V2 Retail's net profit surged 58 percent to Rs 5.15 crore on 12.8 percent growth in net sales to Rs 79.16 crores in the third quarter. After the debt ridden Vishal Retail chain was sold to a consortium led by private equity giant TPG, its founder Ram Chandra Agarwal plans to focus his new retail business, V2 Retail. Agarwal is aiming at expanding network of V2 Retail stores, which primarily sell apparel, in various states, including Uttar Pradesh and the North-East.

After the global slowdown that hit the retail industry in 2008, it badly affected the Vishal Retail business, forcing Agarwal to exit the same. Learning lessons from his past mistakes, he is cautious about managing cash flow, controlling expansion and not seeking short-term debt.