Blackstone completes Rs 4,044-cr Sona stake sale; GIC, SBI MF top buyers

Blackstone completes Rs 4,044-cr Sona stake sale; GIC, SBI MF top buyers

A clutch of institutional investors, including Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, acquired a 13.6% stake held by US private equity major Blackstone in Sona BLW Precision Forgings for about Rs 4,044 crore.

The buyers acquired the stake through a block deal on Thursday for Rs 509 a share, which was at a 5% discount to Wednesday’s closing price. Following the partial stake sale, the share prices in the automotive component manufacturer fell 6% on Thursday, and closed 4.03% lower at Rs 517.40.

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All the buyers were institutional shareholders, with a reputation of staying invested in companies. Blackstone was the lone seller as the promoters were not part of the block deal.

Following the deal, Blackstone would continue to hold a 20.5% stake in the firm. Prior to the stake sake, the US private equity firm held a 34.1% stake in Sona BLW.

For Blackstone, the stake sale was done at Internal Rate of Return (IRR, a metric used to estimate profitability of investments) of 15 times, sources added.

The PE firm had sold some stake at the time of Sona BLW’s (also known as Sona Comstar) initial public offering in June 2021, when the firm raised about Rs 5,550 crore. The IPO was a mix of fresh issue of shares and an offer for sale (OFS) by existing shareholders, including Blackstone’s affiliate Singapore VII Topco III Pte Ltd.

When contacted, Blackstone declined to comment on the deal. Nomura Holdings Indian arm was the sole agent to the deal.