Kotak Mahindra PE part exits retail chain V-Mart

Kotak Mahindra (International) has reduced its stake in V-Mart Retail by 5.54 per cent, selling over 10 lakh shares in the open market for an estimated Rs 51 crore. Kotak Mahindra (International), which had 9.43 per cent stake earlier, brought down its shareholding in the company to 3.88 per cent on May 18. Kotak Mahindra has sold over 10 lakh equity shares at an average price of Rs 500 each, aggregating to Rs 50 crores.

Mult-brand retail chain V-Mart also counts IDFC Sterling, Tata Dual Advantage Fund, Fidelity, Aditya Birla PE among its shareholders. In February 2014, Kotak Mahindra bought over 10 lakh shares in V-Mart.

V-Mart has plans to expand big in the eastern states of India such as Jharkhand and Odisha in the next fiscal in order to take its store count to 150. Presently, it runs 123 stores. Besides new stores, V-Mart has also tied up with Saksham Trust to sell specialised items for the visually impaired. The products that they retail are talking thermometer, talking calculator, book reading and recording devices and smart can devices. V-Mart retails these items at six of its stores and plans to make them available at 50 more in the next six months. The products are priced between Rs 2 to Rs 11,500. V-Mart had a revenue of Rs 720.50 crores in FY2014-15.