American multinational private equity firm, Blackstone acquired 6 per cent stake in Future Lifestyle Fashions by investing $250 million. Earlier, Blackstone had acquired Mumbai-based International Asset Reconstruction Co (IARC), the company, which has Tata Group, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank as its key shareholders.
Future Lifesyle Fashion (FLF) owned by Future Group operates 339 stores in more than 90 cities through Central and Brand Factory, Exclusive Brand Outlets (EBOs), and Multi-Brand Outlets (MBOs). According to the data on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 11.6 million shares of FLF was sold to Blackstone Tactical Opportunities Fund by the promoter Ryka Commercial Ventures Private Ltd in a secondary market transaction for Rs 466.25 per share. The Blackstone invested capital will help in expanding the capital fund of Biyani’s deep discount retail format Brand Factory along with improving its promoter leverage.
Kishore Biyani’s FLF saw a 50 per cent rise in net profit while the company’s revenue rose 20 per cent to INR 5,728 crore. According to experts, this association with Blackstone will likely be the basis of a closer relationship that may span Biyani’s retail and real estate empire.
