S K Birla says options open on Pilani stake

S K Birla, the promoter of Birla VXL, Cimmco Birla and a lot of other companies, is keeping all options, including sellout, open for his stake in Pilani Investments.

The stakeholders of Pilani Investments, the crown jewel in the Birla portfolio with holding in key group companies, were in the process of unravelling the ownership wrangle.

When asked if he was open to selling his 8-10 per cent stake in Pilani, he said, these were financial dealings and all options were being kept open.

According to the shareholding pattern of Pilani, B K Birla holds 30 per cent, GP-CK combine 25 per cent and S K Birla 8-10 per cent in the company.

Another 25 per cent is held by the M P Birla group, which is under dispute while the balance is with the public. Birla said, the valuation of Pilani would have to be worked out by experts. He however clarified that any decision on Pilani would have to be taken by the 'seniors'.

Earlier, B K Birla said that the ownership of Pilani would have to be worked out by Kumar Mangalam Birla and C K Birla. One of them would have to buy out the other as a solution to the ownership wrangle. B K Birla had entrusted Kumar Mangalam Birla and C K Birla to come up with a solution.

The ownership issue in Pilani would also settle the ownership of Century Textiles, a key company in B K Birla's portfolio of companies, where Pilani has a 36.39 per cent stake in Century Textiles. Hence, the owner of Pilani would automatically assume the ownership of Century.

The control of Pilani Investments had always been a contentious issue as it has holding in different Birla group companies. For instance, Pilani holds 4.69 per cent share in Grasim Industries, 2.45 per cent in Hindalco, apart from shares in other Birla companies.

However, this was not the first time that the family attempted to resolve the Pilani ownership issue. S K Birla said, discussions on the issue had been going for the last 15 years and were likely to continue for the next 15 years.