Virendra Verma

Mumbai , Aug. 29

CHAMUNDESHWARI Trading and Finance, a big shareholder in S Kumar's Nationwide, has sold more than 16 per cent in the company in the open market this month. Most of these shares were bought by HSBC.

Mr Nitin Kasliwal, Managing Director of S Kumar's Nationwide, said the seller is an associate company of the promoters.

Chamundeshwari Trading and Finance held 20.75 per cent (3.21 crore) shares at the end of June quarter. It has sold 2.48 crore shares in the open market this month. Of this, 1.81 crore shares were sold on Friday.

One crore shares were bought by HSBC Global Investment Corp and 50 lakh shares by HSBC Mutual Fund. Their combined holding of 1.5 crore shares is 9.7 per cent of the company's equity.

This month, several foreign funds have bought the shares of the textile company, which has brands such as Reid & Taylor. Other foreign funds are Citigroup Global Market and Goldman Sachs, both have bought 15 lakh shares each.

The stock price of the company has also been on the rise and in the last one month, it rose more than 45 per cent. On Monday, it closed at Rs 53, up 3.41 per cent, on the BSE.

Brokers said the interest of foreign investors' is due to the company's expansion plans, under which it is planning to enter into retail segment in a big way.

The restructuring initiative is also likely to benefit the company by reducing its interest cost. The promoters have arranged funds to the tune of approximately Rs 125 crore to fund the various growth plans and to meet the requirement as per the CDR package. These funds, currently being brought in as unsecured zero interest bearing loans, shall be converted into equity over a period of time, as per the appropriate regulatory guidelines.

Infusion of these funds will significantly help the company in advancing some of the expansion plans, compared to what was envisaged earlier, a notice issued to the stock exchange by the company said.

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