India-based healthcare group Piramal Enterprises is set to make a 52% profit from the Rs 89bn ($1.48bn) sale of its 11% stake in UK-based telecommunications company Vodafone’s Indian business.
Piramal acquired the stake in two tranches in fiscal 2012 for 58.6bn ($973m). The sale means Vodafone will take full ownership of Vodafone India, once it has also bought businessman Analjit Singh’s 4.5% share.
“The equity purchase in Vodafone was consistent with our objective of making investments that offer opportunity to generate attractive long-term return on equity,” Piramal Group chairman Ajay Piramal said. “In an environment where most companies are starved for cash, it will open up more opportunities. We will redeploy the cash in financial services, healthcare and information management.”