Homegrown lighting solutions brand Surya Roshni is looking for a new owner.The New Delhi-based maker of lighting solutions, appliances, steel pipes, and cold-rolled strips is looking to exit the 44-year-old business, informed sources aware of the development.
Buyout funds Warburg Pincus, Advent International-backed Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals, and Bain are among those in the fray to buy a controlling stake in Surya Roshni, which leveraged celebrity endorsements to enhance its brand recall in the 1990s.
A year ago, the promoters had planned a demerger of the lighting and steel businesses and sell the former. But that process, halted some time ago, has recently been resumed. Ambit Capital is running a formal auction process on behalf of the Surya Roshni promoter family.
The four-decade-old Surya Roshni, run by Jaiprakash Agarwal’s family, last year thought of demerging the business into two. The company’s flagship lighting business was proposed to be hived off into a separate entity, separating the rest of the businesses such as pipes and galvanization units.
Then, the promoters wanted to sell only the lighting business. Ambit was also initially tasked with the demerger of the listed entity and sell the lighting business to financial partners, the source said. But now the promoter family is exploring both options.
Global private equity funds have been bullish on sectors linked to the domestic economy. Warburg, which has been investing in India for the past 20 years, is one of the most aggressive contenders for Surya Roshni. Famed for its mind-boggling returns from Bharti Airtel, Warburg made a near three-times return from its investment in Havells, a competitor to Surya Roshni in the lighting business.
By Baishakhi Dutta
