Bennett Coleman & Co buys shares worth Rs 241 Cr in Future Retail

Media company Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd on Thursday picked up shares worth over Rs 241 crore in Future Retail through open market transactions.

According to the block deal data available with the BSE, Bennett Coleman & Co bought a total of over 59.40 lakh shares or 1.18 percent stake in the retail chain.

The scrips were purchased on an average price of Rs 406, amounting to a total of Rs 241.18 crore.

These shares were sold by Varanium India Opportunity Ltd, Punyah Business Ventures Pvt Ltd and Snehlata Rajesh Nuwal.

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According to the shareholding data available with the BSE, for the quarter ended June 2019, Bennett Coleman is a public shareholder and held 4.60 percent stake in the company.

Besides, Brand Equity Treaties Ltd, an entity under Brand Capital, held 2.68 percent stake in Future Retail during the quarter under review. Brand Capital is an arm of Bennett Coleman & Co.

On BSE, shares of Future Retail on Thursday ended at Rs 406.10 apiece, up 0.41 percent over the previous close.

The company recently announced Amazon picking up a full 49 percent stake in Future Coupons, the promoter entity of Future Retail, with an option to acquire the entire stake later.

Future Coupons currently does not own a stake in Future Retail but had recently subscribed to convertible warrants for Rs 2,000 crore.

"We had subscription warrants of our company and we had to raise money, so the deal was struck. Moreover, the investment by Amazon is strategic to become a part of the ecosystem," Future Group founder Kishore Biyani said.

Biyani had said global ecommerce giant Amazon's investment in the firm is not just to raise money but also to become a part of the ecosystem.

He said the deal is basically aimed at enhancing the payments portfolio of both the companies.

(Edited by Megha Reddy)

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