In an effort to meet listing requirements and increase public float, Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, led by Baba Ramdev, intends to sell up to 2.53 crore shares of its group company, Patanjali Foods Ltd, on stock exchanges.
Patanjali Foods, a company specializing in edible oil and other food products, will be divesting its shares through the Offer for Sale (OFS) route.
According to a regulatory filing by Patanjali Foods on Wednesday, the offer for sale will be open on July 13 and 14, with a fixed floor price of INR 1,000 per equity share.
The share sale at the floor price of INR 1,000 per equity share will enable Patanjali Ayurved, a promoter of Patanjali Foods, to generate a minimum of INR 2,530 crore.
On Wednesday, shares of Patanjali Foods closed slightly higher at INR 1,228.05 per share on the BSE. The company’s market capitalization was recorded at INR 44,454.78 crore.
“Seller (Patanjali Ayurved) proposes to sell up to 25,339,640 equity shares of face value of INR 2 each of the company (representing 7 per cent of the total paid-up equity share capital of the company)…,” Patanjali Foods said.
Currently, the public ownership in Patanjali Foods stands at 19.18 percent, which must be raised to at least 25 percent in accordance with the regulations set by Sebi.
Patanjali Foods has stated that Patanjali Ayurved also has the option to sell an additional 7,239,897 equity shares, which accounts for 2 percent of the company’s total paid-up equity share capital.
If the option is exercised, the total stake dilution will be approximately 9 percent.
“The offer is being undertaken by the seller, inter alia, for achieving the minimum public shareholding of the company,” the filing said.
The Patanjali Group acquired the bankrupt Ruchi Soya Industries and subsequently rebranded the company as Patanjali Foods.
Previously, Patanjali Foods initiated a Follow-on Public Offer (FPO) worth INR 4,300 crore with the objective of augmenting the public shareholding.
In the previous fiscal year, Patanjali Foods witnessed a growth in total income, which rose to INR 31,821.45 crore compared to INR 24,284.38 crore in 2021-22.
Among the overall revenue, the turnover of the edible oil segment in Patanjali Foods increased to INR 25,253.33 crore during the last fiscal year, compared to INR 22,468.64 crore in the preceding year.
The revenue of the Food & FMCG segment in Patanjali Foods experienced a significant surge, growing almost four-fold to INR 6,218.08 crore during the fiscal year 2022-23, in comparison to INR 1,683.24 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.