Tata Group mulls diluting stake in Infiniti Retail

The Tata group is considering diluting its stake in Infiniti Retail, the group's wholly-owned subsidiary, which runs the electronics retail chain Croma.
 
''The company has enough funds to finance its expansion. But, we will look at private equity (PE) funding when the valuations are right,'' said Krishnakumar, chairman of Infiniti.

Krishnakumar. who is also a director of Tata Sons, the main holding company of the Group Said Infiniti Retail has invested around Rs220 crore till date.

The chain is planning to double the number of stores by the end of 2011 and will invest Rs150 crore to open 18 more stores in the country by the end of this financial year, Kumar said

''Profit margins have improved in the last year or so, because of our negotiating powers with vendors and economic growth in the country,'' Krishnakumar said.

Each store is recording a sales of Rs30-35 crore and the chain is seeing a same-store growth of 14 per cent, he said. ''Barring one or two, every store is seeing steady growth. I think 15 per cent growth is feasible.''

The retail chain hopes to break even in the current year. Currently, 17 of its 32 have achieved store-level profit, Krishnakumar said.