Sharad Kantilal Shah, one of the top traders in the domestic market, has become the second largest shareholder in Tata Coffee. This is after he picked up 1.2 per cent or over 2,24,000 shares in the open market recently and raised his holding in the company to 12.9 per cent.
The share price of Tata Coffee rose 2.54 per cent on Tuesday in the falling market amidst buzz that Shah was raising his stake. The counter also touched a 52-week high at Rs 939 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). At the current market price, Shah’s stake in Tata Coffee is valued at over Rs 22 crore.
While this time he is going long on Tata Coffee, his typical trading sytle involves going short in Nifty futures, say brokers. Some of his trading bets in the market include Tata Elxi, Henkal India, Accentia Technologies, Glodyne Technoserve, Bayer Corp, Balaji Distilleries and Core Projects, among others.
Talking to Business Standard, Shah said, “I’m holding Tata Coffee shares for nearly five years now. In recent transactions, my average price per share is Rs 782.59.” Shah says he is betting on the growing coffee demand and global coffee chains coming to India. “Starbucks is entering India and they have a tie-up with Tata. The franchises will be a major hit,” he adds.
Tata Tea, the global beverage arm of Tata Group, is the largest shareholder in Tata Coffee, with a 57.48 per cent stake, according to the latest available December 2010 filings on the stock exchanges. Shah holds stake in Tata Coffee through his associate Astral Securities and wife Trupti Shah. A few other top holders in Tata Coffee include LIC (over 5.2 per cent stake), Kotak Securities (over 2.5 per cent) and Kotak Mahindra Prime Ltd (1.73 per cent).
