Jenson & Nicholson To Offload Stake In Next Six Months

J S Chatterjee, joint managing director, J&N said, "We are in dialogue with the financial institutions at present, however, if talks fail we will look for a strategic investor. The objective of the whole exercise is to bring more mobility in the market."

The present stake holding pattern of the company is as follows: S P Sinha holds 39 per cent, UTI, LIC and mutual funds 25 per cent and the balance is with the public."We have had positive discussions with UTI" added Chatterjee.

J&N is also going for a stock split. Under the changed structure, the authorised share capital of the Rs 41 crore will be divided into Rs 8 crore ordinary shares divided into shares of Rs 2 each and 25 lakh redeemable preference shares of Rs 100 each.

 

Chatterjee said, "S P Sinha will effectively hold 54 per cent stake in the company after one and a half years, by way of the optional covertible debentures." The extraordinary general meeting (EGM) for the stock split will be held on September 9.

The paint corporate, which has been in the doldrums for the last couple of years is going all out to make a comeback. Restructuring of businesses into three strategic business units (SBUs) -- architectural, industrial, manufacturing and corporate control which will act as the support system -- is now complete.

"We have also realigned our production lines" said Chatterjee. Industrial coatings will be handled by Mumbai and Naihati and architectural by Naihati and Hyderabd.

A new production line at Guwahati for architectural has also been set up. All the three SBUs will be run as separate profit centres with transfer price concept.

There are also plans to install 300 more machines in the current financial year, for insta color. At present, there are 500 machines all over the country.

A new project sales division has been set up to handle the big architectural projects. The team will essentially operate in Calcutta and Bangalore for the moment.

"The project sales division will complement the Living Space team which is essentially for the decor services," he said.

As part of its endeavour to give itself a new look in the new millennium, J&N has also raised its adspend by almost 50 per cent.

The financial year will also a see a more slimmer company. In April 1999, the employee strength was 1146 which has been cut down to the present 967. "We will aim to bring it down to 850 within a year's time" Chatterjee said.

While the unionised staff were handed VRS, the company has also freezed new recruitments.