Panatone Finvest to sell its Trent stake to Tata Sons

Panatone Finvest, one of the promoters of the Tata

group subsidiary Trent is said to be parting with its 1.28 per cent holding to Tata Sons to exit Trent business. As per a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) by Trent, the 1.28 per cent holdings of Panatone Finvest, amounting to 4.26 lakh equity shares of Trent will be sold to Tata Sons on or after December 5, 2012. With this acquisition, Tata Sons’ stake in Trent will increase to 26.31 per cent from the current holding of 25.03 per cent.

As reported in the media, Trent has stated that the shares will be transferred at the prevailing price on date of proposed acquisition, such price not being less than Rs 1,000 per share or greater than Rs 1,300 per share. In case of frequent trading, the shares will be sold at a volume weighted average market price of Rs 1,121.74 per share, translating into around Rs 48 crore.

It was also reported that Trent Hypermarket, which operates Star Bazaar, is planning to focus on its ethnic wear collection under its private labels to offer affordable merchandise, since prices of private labels are generally 20-25 per cent less than other brands and also to cash in on the festival season.