KKR, L&T Finance sell part of their stakes in CG Power

Private equity giant KKR and L&T Finance Ltd on Friday pared their stakes in CG Power and Industrial Solutions for a total of over ₹63 crore through open-market transactions.

As per the bulk deal data available on National Stock Exchange, L&T Finance, KKR India Debt Opportunities Fund II and KKR India Financial Services sold over 46.6 million shares, or approximately 7.5%, of CG Power.

L&T Finance sold at an average price of ₹14.25 per share, totalling ₹13.53 crore, while KKR India sold at an average price of ₹13.57 per share, totalling ₹49.6 crore.

At the end of the June quarter, L&T Finance and KKR India held 9.99% and 10.01% respectively in the company.

The partial stake sale comes at a time when CG Power has found a new investor.

In August last year, CG Power had said advances to related and unrelated parties and the Avantha Group may have been potentially understated by ₹1,990.36 crore and ₹2,806.63 crore, respectively. The board had said certain assets of the company were purportedly provided as collateral without due authority and that the company was made a co-borrower and/or guarantor for enabling ostensibly unrelated third parties to obtain loans without due authorization. Following these revelations, the company’s board had removed promoter Gautam Thapar from the chairman’s post.

On 7 August, the company informed stock exchanges that Murugappa Group-led Tube Investments of India Ltd agreed to invest ₹700 crore in the company for a 56% stake. However, lenders to CG Power are now seeking better bids for the company under the Swiss Challenge method, Mint had reported on Wednesday.