CX Partners, Warburg vie for Biyani's stake in Biba

Deal likely to be valued at Rs 300-350 cr, according to sources

Private equity (PE) firm CX Partners and global PE major Warburg Pincus are in the final race to acquire Kishore Biyani's 28.3 per cent stake in Indian ethnic wear brand Biba in a deal likely to be valued at Rs 300-350 crore, according to a person close to the development.

This would value Biba, which has a turnover of Rs 300 crore, at about four times its sales revenue, or Rs 1,200 crore. Biba's founder Meena Bindra launched the brand in 1986 with a line of Indian ethnic wear such as salwar, kameez and dupattas. Biba's first standalone store was opened in Mumbai in 2004 and at present it has 87 standalone stores across India and plans to reach 150 by the end of 2013.

While CX Partners did not respond to an email questionnaire, a source close to Biyani confirmed the negotiations.

Biyani is offloading his stake not only in Biba but also in AND, a brand owned by fashion designer Anita Dongre. BIyani holds 22-23 per cent stake in AND, valued at Rs 200 crore. General Atlantic is buying out Biyani's stake in AND.

Stake sell-offs in Biba and AND would offer about Rs 500-550 crore to Biyani, which would help him reduce debts in his group companies. As of December 2012, Future Retail's debt stood at Rs 7,527.66 crore.

CX Partners, founded in 2009 by former head of Citi's India Venture Capital arm Ajay Relan, manages a fund with a corpus of $500 million. The PE firm has invested in Monnet Ispat, Imperative Hospitality, NTL Electronics India Ltd, Barbeque Nation, Matrix Cellular (International) Services and Thyrocare Technologies.