Baring, L&T Are Said to Lead Bidding for Major Mindtree Stake
(Bloomberg) -- Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd. and Baring Private Equity Asia are the leading bidders for a major stake in Mindtree Ltd., as the Indian tech services and consulting firm's largest shareholder seeks to sell his holding, according to people familiar with the matter.
Larsen & Toubro and Baring are both offering 950 to 1,000 rupees a share and a decision may come as soon as next week, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. V.G. Siddhartha, the largest shareholder in Mindtree, is selling a stake of about 20 percent that he holds through Coffee Day Enterprises and affiliated entities. The deal would be valued at about 34 billion rupees ($480 million) at the top of the price range.
Other suitors including private equity firm KKR & Co. remain interested, the people said. No final decision has been made and the companies could still decide against pursuing a deal. Baring declined to comment. Larsen & Toubro Infotech, KKR and the office of V.G. Siddhartha did not respond to requests for comment.
Siddhartha is selling the stake as he shifts his attention from technology consulting to an expansion of his Cafe Coffee Day business. The chain is challenging Starbucks in India and is aiming to expand to more than 2,000 stores in the next few years. Mindtree competes with Larsen & Toubro, Infosys Ltd. and other rivals in supporting corporate customers that need tech expertise.
Mindtree's management would prefer the stake not go to Larsen & Toubro because of competitive tensions, one of the people said. However, that may not prove the deciding factor, the person said.
Mindtree shares have climbed about 8 percent this year and rose 2.5 percent in Friday trading.
To contact the reporters on this story: Saritha Rai in Bangalore at srai33@bloomberg.net;Manuel Baigorri in Hong Kong at mbaigorri@bloomberg.net;Anto Antony in Mumbai at aantony1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net, Robert Fenner
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
-
Navigating Energy Crossroads: S Jaishankar's Call For Diversified Supply Chains At G20 Ministerial Meeting
As geopolitical fault lines continue to test maritime trade routes and commodity flows, Jaishankar's message remains pertinent: true economic resilience requires open markets, protected transit lines, and a genuine commitment to multilateral cooperation rather than coercion.
-
Indians Are Travelling, But Not Every Journey Is A Holiday | The Week In Whys
Pilgrims, patients and working women are the real travellers, and the system hasn't quite caught up with them.
-
Getting To Work Costs Women More | The Reason Why
It is not just about women paying more than men. It is about women paying much more in cities than in villages.
-
AI Bias In Investing Cannot Be Eliminated, But It Can Be Governed
Framing is a particularly important example as identical financial information presented in terms of gains rather than losses can lead an LLM to reach a different assessment.
