Blackstone, the private equity giant, has reportedly roped in Morgan Stanley as it looks to sell its majority stake in EPL Ltd (formerly Essel Propack), a big player in the laminated tubes and specialty packaging business.
For the quarter ended September 30, 2024, Blackstone through Epsilon Bidco Pte Ltd held a 51.47 per cent stake in EPL.
A Moneycontrol report on Friday said it has engaged Morgan Stanley as the adviser as it looks to sell the majority stake in EPL. The report added that the target is to find a suitable buyer by March 2025. Blackstone is looking to part with its entire stake.
The news of the proposed sale led to the shares of EPL ending higher on the bourses. On the BSE, the scrip settled at ₹267.75, marking a gain of 2.10 per cent over the last close. At the current prices, it has a market cap of ₹8,534 crore.
It was in 2019 that Blackstone had acquired majority control in EPL from the Essel group and public shareholders.
In April 2019, Blackstone had announced that private equity funds managed by it had entered into a definitive agreement with Ashok Goel Trust to purchase a majority stake in EPL.
Ashok Goel Trust and its affiliates then held close to 57 per cent of EPL.
Blackstone paid a purchase price of ₹134 per share to acquire the 51 per cent shareholding from Ashok Goel Trust.
The transaction triggered a mandatory open offer for the purchase of an additional 26 per cent shares of the company. The open offer price was also fixed at Rs 139.19 per share.
Blackstone had then said that based on the open offer subscription, the purchase price consideration will vary between ₹2,157 and ₹3,211 crore (or, up to $462 million). Following the open offer, Blackstone held 75 per cent of EPL.
For the quarter ended September 30, 2024, EPL posted a standalone net profit of ₹63.5 crore against ₹41.2 crore a year ago.
Its total income during the period came in at ₹404.2 crore against ₹359.4 crore in the year-ago quarter. On a consolidated basis, the net profit stood at ₹88.3 crore compared with ₹ 52.1 crore a year ago.
