Vishal Retail falls 4% on Shriram, TPG buyout

Vishal Retail plunged by nearly 4 per cent on the BSE today, a day after the company said it will sell its retail trading business to Shriram Group and its wholesale division to private equity firm TPG for a combined value of Rs 100 crore.

"The company was not performing well for quite sometime. The market was expecting better valuation than what was offered by the buyers, which led to the fall in the stock," Geojit BNP Paribas Assistant Vice-President Gaurang Shah said.

After a strong opening on the BSE, the stock could not maintain the momentum and fell by 3.59 per cent to hit an intra-day low of Rs 52.30.

Later, shares of the company were trading at Rs 52.90, down 2.49 per cent. On the National Stock Exchange, the stock lost 2.21 per cent to Rs 53.05.

In a filing to the stock exchanges, the company said its board has decided to conduct a postal ballot to seek shareholders' approval for the deal.

TPG will buy the wholesale trading, institutional sales and franchise operations of Vishal, while Chennai-based diversified group Shriram will assume control of the retail trading undertaking of Vishal.

The broader market Sensex was trading higher by 127 points at 19,335.36 today.