Cafe Coffee Day Group founder VG Siddhartha is in final talks with L&T Infotech (LTI) and private equity firm KKR to sell his stake in mid-tier IT services firm Mindtree NSE 0.29 %. The deal is likely to be finalised in 10 days, said people with knowledge of the matter.
The billionaire entrepreneur and his associates hold about 21% stake in Mindtree, the Bengaluru-based IT services firm that he backed when the company was founded in 1999.
Siddhartha is in serious talks with just LTI and KKR, said the people cited above. ET first reported on January 21 that the IT arm of Larsen and Toubro was keen to pick up the stake.
The people cited above added that Siddhartha wasn’t in negotiations with Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa or his company Fairfax.
The founder of CCD is asking for Rs 1,000 per share and sources are confident that the deal is expected to close anywhere betwe-with Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa or his company Fairfax. The founder of CCD is asking for Rs 1,000 per share and sources are confident that the deal is expected to close anywhere between Rs 950 and Rs 1,000.
The stock closed at Rs 906.65 on the Bombay Stock Exchange Wednesday.
The company’s founders Krishnakumar Natarajan, NS Parthasarathy, Rostow Ravanan and Subroto Bagchi hold 3.72%, 1.43%, 0.71% and 3.1%, respectively. They have so far resisted participating in any sale, saying they were focused on building the company.
Siddhartha’s investments span coffee retail, real estate, hospitality, logistics and technology.
In September 2012, he was quoted as saying that he was committed to staying invested in Mindtree for five to eight years. He bought an initial 6.6% stake in the company for Rs 41 a share in 1999. He started increasing his stake from June 2011, buying out founder-chairman Ashok Soota’s stake and later accumulating his shares from the market at Rs 450-475 a share.
Source: Economic Times