Kasliwal to sell minority stake

Nitin Kasliwal and his family, owners S Kumars Nationwide Ltd (SKNL), will sell a minority stake

of 10 to 12 per cent in their family holding company Anjaneya Holdings along with a part of their stake in fully-owned subsidiary Reid & Taylor (India) Ltd (RTIL) in a public offer by December. The funds will be used to repay a part of the company’s Rs 2,800 crores debt, to purchase the premium suiting brand Reid & Taylor, now licensed to SKNL by its Scottish owner, and in acquiring companies both in India and abroad.

Kasliwal, along with his wife, daughter and son, control all the holding companies. He took over the reins after a five-way family split of the 57-year-old textile-to-real-estate group among his brothers and cousins in 2005. The family has appointed Deutsche Bank AG and London-based Euromax Capital Global Finance to work on structures and find PE funds. Besides, Anjaneya Holdings controls a 49.83 per cent stake in the domestically listed SKNL, which owns clothing brands such as Reid & Taylor, Belmonte, S Kumars and home linen brand Carmichael House.

In June 2008, SKNL sold a 25.6 per cent stake in RTIL for Rs 990 crores (today) to a Singapore-based wealth fund for repaying loans, building brands and expanding RTIL’s capacity. Around Rs 790 crores was used to repay loans and exit SKNL from a corporate debt restructuring plan.

Meanwhile, SKNL, which has the right to use the Reid & Taylor brand in India in perpetuity, has also started negotiations to buy the international rights from Scottish company Reid and Taylor. An initial public offer by Reid and Taylor slated for the end of 2010 will comprise three parts. The main part will be a primary market offering into Reid and Taylor for its growth. The second will be a small secondary offering by SKNL, funds from which will be used to retire SKNL debt, and a small secondary offering by GIC is also on the cards.