V G Siddhartha sells 1.5% stake in Mindtree for Rs 65 cr

Sells nearly 1.5% in the mid-sized IT firm for about Rs 65 crore

V G Siddhartha, chairman of Coffee Day Group, has sold 6,00,000 shares (1.5 per cent stake) in Mindtree for about Rs 65 crore.

In a regulatory filing, Siddhartha and his group company, Coffee Day Resorts, said on Friday, they had sold 4,00,000 and 2,00,000 Mindtree shares, respectively, through the open market.

Siddhartha, along with two group companies — Coffee Day Resorts and Global Technology Ventures — is the single largest investor in the Bangalore-based Mindtree. As on June 30, Siddhartha and his group companies held 21 per cent stake in the information technology company.

“We can’t comment on what an individual investor does, but his (Siddhartha’s) holding in the company has remained static for nearly a year now, and there has been no sale,” Mindtree chief executive and managing director Krishnakumar Natarajan told Business Standard. “We are not concerned by one investor selling some stake, because volumes in the shares are very high due to the interest in the company.”

On Friday, a foreign investor — FID Fund Mauritius — had bought 2,95,129 equity shares of Mindtree at Rs 1,074.99 a share through a block deal, BSE data showed.

Cafe Coffee Day spokespersons were unavailable for comment. After the entry of global coffee major Starbucks in India, Cafe Coffee Day has been eyeing expansion to retain market share.They currently have 1500 stores. 

The company has also said that it has plans to expand into various other countries, and is studying markets to take a strategic decision. Cafe Coffee Day has around 10 cafes in West Asia, Pakistan and Europe.