The $6 billion Wadia family’s plan to shed stake in Britannia has the 150-year old Bombay Burmah up and running

• The Wadia Group is planning to sell up to 5% stake in India’s largest biscuit maker, Britannia Industries, through secondary block deals to raise as much as ₹4,000 crore, according to reports.
• Bombay Burmah holds 51% stake in Britannia Industries which has a market cap of ₹82,272 crore.
• Biscuits and bakery products maker, Britannia share price, zoomed over 60% since March 23— when the lockdown started.

Bombay Burmah stocks rallied over 4% on June 5 all thanks to its parent company— The Wadia Group, which also owns Britannia Industries. The stellar rally in the stock was triggered by The Wadia Group decision to sell up to 5% stake in India’s largest biscuit maker, Britannia Industries, to raise as much as ₹4,000 crore, according to reports.

Bombay Burmah holds 51% stake in Britannia Industries, which has a market cap of ₹82,272 crore. The Wadias are likely to sell shares through secondary block deals in open markets, according to The Economic Times.

According to reports, the Mumbai-based conglomerate is looking to take advantage of a spike in the share prices since March when Indian markets had slumped to a record low. Biscuits and bakery products maker, Britannia share price, zoomed over 60% since March 23— when the lockdown started. That’s an addition of over ₹31,000 crore to the market value. A 5% stake would have appreciated by over ₹1,500 crore in the last 9 weeks.

However, Britannia shares fell over a percent after the report of the proposed stake sale.


Unlike many other consumption majors, Britannia posted robust Q4 earnings. The company saw a 26% jump in its consolidated net profit to ₹375 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31.

Bombay Burmah is India's second oldest publicly-quoted company engaged in the Burmese tea and coffee business, owned by the Wadia family with a net worth of over $6 billion, according to Forbes.

Majority of stakes in Bombay Burmah — 65.93% is held by the promoters and a little over 26% is held by the non-institutional promoters. Mutual funds, foreign institutional investors and retail investors own nearly 8% of the stake in the company.


Bombay Burmah profit for the third quarter ended Dec 31 jumped to ₹27.69 crore from the net loss of ₹11.64 crore in the corresponding quarter previous year. The reports for the fourth quarter ended Mar 31 are still awaited.


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