Kolkata, July 7 (Inditop.com) The city-based Ruia group is weighing options to offload its equity and bring down its holdings in wagon maker Jessop from 94.5 percent to below 75 percent, a top company official said here Tuesday.
Group chairman Pawan Kumar Ruia is also planning to step down from the board of all his group companies, saying he would only be the chairman of the group.
“We are actively looking into various options of bringing down promoters’ equity in Jessop to below 75 percent, because that’s mandatory to go public,” Ruia told reporters here.
“One option is to offload our equity straight away and another option is to bring in a strategic investor so that in the restructured equity our holdings come down. We are just waiting for the appropriate time when we get the right price.”
Pointing out that the government had a 3.5 percent stake in the company, he added: “Another issue is whether the government’s stake would be considered as promoters’ equity. We are trying to sort out this issue also.”
Ruia, who acquired the sick Jessop in 2003, had stepped down from the board last year after it became a profit-making company.
“I want all my group companies to be run by professionals and I will myself stay as a real investor within the group,” he contended.
Jessop reported a net profit of Rs.20.24 crore on net sales of Rs.211.58 crore in 2008-09.
