VIP stock rises 12.84% on acquisition buzz

The stock of VIP Industries rallied 12.84 per cent today on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) to close at Rs 486.15. It hit an intra-day high of Rs 502.40 — a 52-week high.

Reports about an impending acquisition in Europe drove the stock up, equity dealers tracking the company said.

But Dilip Piramal, chairman, VIP Industries told Business Standard that the reports were out of context. “I had said there was one private equity-backed firm called Delsey in Europe, which we would be interested in. This is likely to happen in 2012-13, when the private equity funds are likely to seek exit. It is then that we will look at a possible acquisition.”

VIP and Delsey are no strangers to each other. The Indian firm has two existing tie-ups with Delsey. One is a manufacturing agreement, the other a marketing tie-up, Piramal said. “We manufacture Delsey’s hard luggage products at our plant in Nasik. This is for their worldwide market, while the marketing tie-up is mainly for India.”

VIP, for the record, has a 55 per cent share of the organised luggage market in India. This includes both hard and soft luggage. The Indian luggage market is estimated to be Rs 2,500 crore. The organised and unorganised portions are evenly distributed at Rs 1,250 crore each. VIP’s nearest rival is Samsonite, with a share of over 25 per cent.

VIP saw net sales and net profit grow for the quarter ended June 30, 2010. Net sales grew 15.47 per cent to touch Rs 236.50 crore as against Rs 204.80 crore last year. Net profit, meanwhile, grew 60 per cent to touch Rs 32.20 crore as against Rs 20.10 crore last year. Investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has close to a six per cent stake in the company.