Larsen & Toubro's financial services arm L&T Finance Holding is planning to sell its private equity portfolio in a bid to merge its business segments. The company is in talks with investors such as Bain Capital LLC, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and another secondary portfolio buyer NewQuest Capital Partners.
NewQuest is considered as a preferred buyer, although Bain and Canada Pension Plan, which have existing "exposure" with some L&T companies, are also interested, sources aware of the matter were quoted as saying by the Economic Times.
According to the publication, the deal is expected to be completed within the next couple of months.
The deal would mostly be a secondary portfolio sell off, which the company had decided in May this year. The firm has Rs 1,000 crore exposure in private equity, structured infrastructure and real estate business. L&T Finance has been trying to shut down several of its units, which includes the asset management and alternative investment business.
By doing so, the company aims to concentrate on hardcore infrastructure and wholesale financing, which would improve its return on equity, ET added.
L&T Finance Holdings is a financial holding company, which offers a diverse range of financial products and services across the corporate, retail and infrastructure finance sectors. In addition, the firm also offers mutual fund products and investment management services, through its direct and indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries.
The Larsen & Toubro stock was trading at Rs 1,455.50 at around 12:33 p.m. on Tuesday, down 0.33 percent from its previous close on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
