Sterling & Wilson at 20% UC

Today, the listed Shapoorji Palonji companies seem to be on fire! Sterling & Wilson is locked at its 20% UC at Rs235.90; Forbes & Co is also frozen at its 5% UC of the day at Rs.1484.15 while Gokak Textiles remains muted, up less than 1% at Rs.11.15.

Yesterday, the Shapoorji Palonji group issued a statement saying that it preferred to completely exit from the Tata group and was necessary to mitigate the potential impact of the continuing litigations on the livelihoods and the economy.

The Supreme Court had barred the group from pledging or selling its stake in any Tata company till 28th Oct.

And today, the group has valued its stake in Tata Sons at close to Rs.1.78 trillion, based on its holding in TCS, Titan, Tata Motors and unlisted Tata Capital and Tata AIA Life Insurance. It has also assigned a brand value of Rs 1.46 trillion to Tata Sons and wants a proportionate share of the same. It holds a 18.37% stake in Tata Sons.

If the group does manage to get the money, it will make its companies debt free wherein most are currently struggling to survive. Though on the other hand, this will prove to be a huge strain on the Tata group because generating this kind of money would be tough. It is sure to lean hard on its mulch cow, TCS. It would be interesting to see how the Tata Group reacts to this and how it plans to raise funds.