Skip to main content

Future Group may to Exit Generali and Sell Stake to IITL

According to source, both sides have agreed on a valuation of around Rs 1,600 cr

 

The Kishore Biyani-promoted Future Group, which runs the country's largest retail firm, is set to exit from the life insurance venture that it operates in partnership with Italy's Generali.

Future is in advance discussions with the Mumbai-based Industrial Investment Trust (IITL) to sell a controlling stake in a phased manner, two people familiar with the development told ET. A top official, who is also member of the board in one of the companies involved in the transaction, said that, "both side have agreed on a valuation of around . 1,600 crore, which might change marginally depending upon the outcome of the due diligence process."

The debt-laden Future group is planning to sell non-core assets and focus on its retail business. Future had entered the life insurance business hoping to use its vast network of retail stores and consumer footfalls to sell insurance. But Pantaloon's debt burden and the insurance business' constant need for cash meant that Future had to take a call on where it needed to invest money. The group is also in talks with prospective investors to sell stake in Future Capital Holdings but the insurance deal is expected to happen before.

Kishore Biyani was unavailable for comment. But two officials close to the development confirmed that discussions were underway and have reached an advanced stage. KK Rathi, who oversees the group's financial decisions, is understood to be handling the deal. IITL is already planning to raise capital to fund the transaction and has already called a board meeting on November 22, to discuss plans. The money will be raised through issue of shares on a preferential basis, one person said.


It will buy 24% in the first phase by investing directly in the company and becoming Generali's new partner, he added. Future's stake will drop to 50%. "Since the JV has not completed five years of operation, the existing Indian promoter will not be able sell in the first round," he said. In the second round that is expected to be completed after the JV completes five years next year, Future will sell its remaining stake either in part or in full to the new partner, he said.

 

Popular posts from this blog

Mutual Fund Review: Religare Tax Plan

Tax Plan is one of the better performing schemes from Religare Asset Management. Existing investors can redeem their investment after three years. But given the scheme's performance, they can continue to stay invested   Given the mandated lock-in period of three years, tax saving schemes give the fund manager the leeway to invest in ideas that may take time to nurture. Religare Tax Plan's investment ideas revolve around 'High Growth', which the fund manager has aimed to achieve by digging out promising stories/businesses in the mid-cap segment. Within the space, consumer staples has been the centre of attention for the last couple of years and can be seen as one of the key reasons for the scheme's outperformance as compared to the broader market. It has, however, tweaked its focus and reduced exposure in midcaps as they were commanding a high premium. The strategy seems to have worked as it returned a 22% gain last year. Religare Tax Plan has outperformed BSE 100...

JP Morgan launches Emerging Markets Opportunities Equity Offshore Fund

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online Buy Gold Mutual Funds Leave a missed Call on 94 8300 8300 JP Morgan launches Emerging Markets Opportunities Equity Offshore Fund    The new fund offer opens for subscription on 16 th June and closes on 30 th June. JP Morgan Mutual Fund today announced the launch of its open end fund of fund called Emerging Markets Opportunities Equity Offshore Fund. The fund will invest in an aggressively managed portfolio of emerging market companies in the underlying fund - JPMorgan Funds - Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund, says a JP Morgan press release. Noriko Kuroki, Client Portfolio Manager, Global Emerging Markets Team (Singapore), JPMAM said, "Emerging markets have been out of favour for several years, as growth decelerated and earnings struggled. However, in a world of globalisation, we believe that EM will eventually re-couple with DM, leading to the long-aw...

Nifty F&O

  1. What is a straddle? A strategy using Nifty options usually before a major event or when one is uncertain of market direction. Comprises purchase of a Nifty call and put option of the same strike price. Usually strikes are purchased closer to the level of the underlying index. 2. What is better ­ buying or selling a straddle? It depends.Implied volatili ty of options, or near-term expectations of price swings in an un derlier like Nifty , usually peaks before an event and falls when the outcome plays out ­ like Infy re sults in past years. However, once the event plays out, a sharp rise or fall in Nifty could result in price of the straddle rising ­ benefiting buy ers. But, normally , those who sell or write options charge hefty premiums from buyers in the hope that fall in volatility would ensure the options end out-of-the-money, hurting buyers. 3. So, do straddle sellers end up winning most of the time? Yes. That's invariably the case when market volatility is trending on the...

UTI Equity Fund Invest Online

Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms Buy Gold Mutual Funds Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India)   UTI Equity Fund   Invest Online UTI Equity is a large cap-oriented fund with assets under management worth Rs. 2,269 crore (as on June 30, 2013). The fund was originally launched in May 1992 as UTI Mastergain and is benchmarked against S&P BSE 100. A couple of years back the name of the fund was changed to UTI Equity Fund and many of the smaller funds of UTI were merged into this fund. Performance The fund has outperformed its benchmark as well as the equity diversified category average in the last one-, three- and five-year periods. It has repeated the same in 2013 (as on May 31). Since its inception the fund has delivered an impressive 26 per cent compounded annual growth rate which is superior to its benchmark performance in the same period. Y...

Good time to invest in Infrastructure Funds

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online Buy Gold Mutual Funds Leave a missed Call on 94 8300 8300   Good time to invest in infrastructure The Sensex has gained almost 10 per cent from May 15 till date, while the CNX Infrastructure Index has gained almost 17 per cent in the period. The price to earnings ( P/ E) ratio of the BSE Sensex is 18.96; for the CNX Infrastructure Index, it is 24.57. The estimated P/ E for next year is 14.04 for the Sensex. Of the 24 companies that make up the CNX Infrastructure Index, six have a P/ E higher than 20. Does this mean infrastructure is fairly valued? Or, has it run up quite a bit? According to experts, barring stray companies, the infra sector is fairly valued and it is a good time to invest. Even if some companies are facing debt restructuring problems, once interest rates come down and regulatory norms become flexible, they will start giving good re...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds Download Any Applications
Transact Mutual Funds Online Invest Online
Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Now