AION buys minority stake in Biyani’s Ryka Ventures

AION Capital Partners Ltd, an India-focused special situations fund, has signed a deal with retail veteran Kishore Biyani to acquire a minority stake in Ryka Commercial Ventures Pvt Ltd, the holding company of some Future Group firms, two people aware of the development said.

AION will invest $100 million (almost ₹650 crore) to acquire the stake, said one of the people, both of whom declined to be named.

AION Capital Partners is a joint venture between US-based private equity fund Apollo Global Management and ICICI Venture Funds Management Co. Ltd, with $825 million in committed capital. The size of the stake to be bought could not be ascertained. The announcement is likely to come in a couple of days, said the second person cited above.

Future Group companies that come under Ryka Commercial Ventures include Future Lifestyle Fashions Ltd, Future Retail Ltd and Future Consumer Ltd. Future Lifestyle Fashions sells domestic and foreign brands including Scullers, BARE, Lee Cooper, Indigo Nation, Clarks, Giovani and Mineral.

The group’s retail business consists of the hypermarket and supermarket business, led by Big Bazaar, fbb, Food Bazaar, Foodhall and Easyday. The business of Future Consumer consists of agri-sourcing, food infrastructure (India Food Park in Karnataka), manufacturing, consumer goods brands, franchisee and distribution (Nilgiris, Aadhaar).

As on July 4, the combined market capitalisation of Future Consumer, Future Retail and Future Lifestyle stood at ₹28,863 crore. As of March, Future Consumer had total debt of ₹338.40 crore, Future Lifestyle ₹482.37 crore and Future Retail ₹1,078.40 crore.

Spokespersons for Future Group and AION declined to comment.

This is not the first instance of Biyani selling a stake in his group companies. In April last year, Singapore-based SSG Capital Management Group acquired a 40% stake in Future Supply Chain Solutions Ltd (FSC).

According to an investor presentation from last year, Future Enterprise Ltd said it was looking to monetise investments in Future Group firms to realise ₹10,000 crore in next five years.

Biyani has been also looking to sell his 50% stake in the insurance joint venture Future Generali India Life Insurance Ltd.