S Kumars plans to sell controlling stake in Reid and Taylor: report

Promoters of cash-strapped textile maker S Kumars Nationwide Ltd (SKNL) is planning to sell a controlling stake in subsidiary Reid and Taylor and deleverage the balance sheet, The Economic Times today reported, citing multiple sources aware of the development.

According to the report, a decision to sell a majority stake in the marquee-suiting brand has already been taken and a formal sale process is expected to be launched in the coming weeks.

SKNL, which acquired Scotland-based Reid & Taylor in 1997, later spun it off into a separate unit and had unsuccessfully tried several times to list it through a Rs1,000-crore IPO.

In 2008, Kasliwals-controlled SKNL had sold a 25.4-per cent equity stake in Reid & Taylor to Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Government of Singapore Investment Corporation for Rs900 crore. (See: Singapore fund to buy 25.4 per cent in S Kumar's Reid & Taylor for Rs900 crore)

The deal, which was executed through a mix of fresh shares and convertible warrants, had valued Reid & Taylor at Rs3,540 crore.

Reid & Taylor, which has brand ambassadors like Amitabh Bachchan and James Bond star Pierce Brosnan, manufactures fabrics, suits, blazers, shirts, trousers, chinos, T-Shirts, formal wear, informal business wear, casual wear and evening wear at its Mysore facility.

It has been the provider of fabric to the world's top ready to wear brands and has some of the world's leading fashion houses as its client.