Kishore Biyani’s Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd, today denied a newspaper report that said the company had sold its stake in Future Capital Holdings and Future Future Generali Life.
The Mumbai-based group informed the stock exchanges that it denies any such transaction “at this stage.”
The denial came after The Economic Times today reported, citing people close to the development that the retail entrepreneur will sell his financial services units to Deccan Chronicle and Industrial Investment Trust (IITL), through two separate transactions worth over Rs1,000 crore.
The paper said that Hyderabad-based sports and media company Deccan Chronicle will buy a controlling is 54-per cent stake owned by Biyani’s flagship firm Pantaloon in Future Capital Holdings in a deal estimated to be worth Rs600-Rs700 crore in cash.
In another transaction, the ET said that Mumbai-based IITL has acquired Pantaloon’s 26-per cent stake in its insurance joint venture Future Generali Life, for Rs250-300 crore in cash.
The other joint venture partner in Future Generali Life is Generali Group of Italy.
A sale of its financial units would reduce Pantaloon’s stand-alone debt of Rs2,173 crore. Consolidated debt was Rs7,846 crore.
The Rs10,000-crore Biyani-led Future Group had in August hired Morgan Stanley to run the sale process of Future Capital, which is registered as a non-banking financial company.
The Mumbai-based group was in talks with several potential buyers including private equity firms JP Morgan and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts as well as Piramal Group for the sale of Future Capital.
In agreement with Kishore Biyani-promoted Pantaloon Retail India Ltd. (PRIL), Future Capital provides financial products and services at malls, stores and retail outlets in India that are owned, controlled or managed by PRIL and its subsidiaries.
It also gives home and auto loans, offer s wealth management services and has a tie-up with credit information agencies including Cibil and TransUnion.
It also has an agreement with ICICI Bank for marketing and distributing credit cards offering loyalty points to customers and is also looking to diversify into insurance products and services.
Future Capital’s loan portfolio saw a 100-per cent growth last year to more than Rs3,000 crore.
While retail forms the core business activity of the Future group, it also operates in sectors including capital, insurance, leisure and entertainment, brand development, retail real estate development, retail media and logistics.
Future Generali is currently active through 93 branches across 84 cities and over 36,000 licensed advisors. Besides this large network of agents and branches, Future Generali also actively offers their insurance solutions across 163 Future Group outlets.
Source: Domain B