Piramal sells stake in Shriram Transport for ₹2,305 crore
MUMBAI: Ajay Piramal, known for raking in huge profits from his investments, has repeated his streak by selling the nearly 10% stake his group has held in Shriram Transport Finance Co. Ltd, making a net gain of ₹653 crore in just six years.
In May 2013, Piramal Enterprises had picked up 9.96% in Shriram Transport Finance, which specializes in financing second-hand trucks, from the Chennai-based Shriram Group for ₹1,652 crore. On Monday, the entire stake was sold through stock exchanges for ₹2,305 crore.
“We have sold our entire direct investment of 9.96% in the fully paid-up share capital of Shriram Transport Finance Co. to third-party investors on the floor of the stock exchange,” Piramal Enterprises said in a regulatory filing on Monday.
As of end March 2019, Piramal Enterprises held 2.26 crore shares amounting to 9.96% stake in Shriram Transport Finance.
Though the exact sale price is not immediately available, it has been learnt that the stock has been sold for ₹1,000-1,015 apiece—a 40% return in six years.
Piramal has been looking to exit the Shriram Group, and had even tried in vain to merge the group with IDFC Group in 2017.
Apart from Shriram Transport, Piramal also own stakes in Shriram City Union (10%) and 20% in Shriram Capital. He picked up stakes in these two companies in 2014 and in 2015 became the Shriram Group chairman. His holding in the Shriram Group is worth over ₹9,000 crore against a total investment of ₹4,600 crore.
Piramal had earlier made hefty profits with investments in telecom major Vodafone.
Over the past decade, the Piramal Group has completed over 20 acquisitions and partnered with global companies like Merck, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Abbott, Bio-Syntech, Bayer etc.
Piramal Enterprises has presence in sectors such as pharma, financial services and healthcare information management.
While acquiring the stake in Shriram Transport Finance in 2013, Piramal had said, “This acquisition is in line with our strategy for building our presence in financial services sector and we see long-term shareholder value creation from this stake acquisition.”
In April 2014, the group had acquired 20% stake in Shriram Capital, the financial services arm of the Shriram Group, for ₹2,014 crore and with that Piramal became the chairman of the Shriram Group. Later in June 2014, Piramal had acquired 10% stake in Shriram City Union, the retail focused nonbanking financial company of the Shriram Group, for ₹790 crore.
IN MAY 2013, PIRAMAL ENTERPRISES HAD PICKED UP 9.96% IN SHRIRAM TRANSPORT FINANCE FOR ₹1,652 CRORE