Future Group: Retail king of India faces litmus test as debt soars

Future Group sees its biggest crisis after raising high-cost loans from PEs and pledging shares

A combination of high cost funds from private equities (PE), promoters pledging stakes and falling share prices of listed entities have put the Future group in a crisis.
 

Though promoter Kishore Biyani is selling stakes in group companies to pay off debt, a significant share price crash since January this year is making his task difficult.
 

“While it is good news that 80 per cent of the borrowings of holding companies are from PE firms, for which the collateral cover is much lower than funds from banks or mutual funds, the cost of funding can be very high,” said an