BCCL increases stake in Pantaloon Retail

After Aditya Birla Nuvo’s announcement to invest Rs 1,600

crores in Pantaloon and acquire a majority stake in the store chain now it’s Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL) which has increased its stake in the Future Group firm. They have purchased 8,163,265 additional equity shares representing a 3.79 per cent increase in its stake to total of 5.83 per cent now with 12,566,477 equity shares.

By allotting shares of Rs 2 each at a premium of Rs 243 per share to BCCL on a preferential basis, Pantaloon had raised Rs 200 crores. This transaction led to an increase in Pantaloon’s paid-up capital from Rs 44.68 crores to Rs 46.32 crores, comprising 21.57 crore shares of Rs 2 each and 1.52 crore Class B (Series 1) shares of Rs 2 each. Also, in a bid to raise an estimated Rs 560 crores, Pantaloon had recently declared to sell 53.67 per cent of its stake in Future Capital Holdings to US-based private equity Warburg Pincus. Debt-ridden Future Group, of which Pantaloon Retail is the flagship company, is in the process of divesting stake in its non-core businesses.