Billionaire Azim Premji, chairman and majority owner of the $5-billion Wipro, has picked up a two per cent stake in Koutons Retail, for about Rs 20 crore.
Ajay Mahajan, chief financial officer, Koutons Retail, confirmed the purchase by Premji, saying, “Textiles retail is growing at a rapid pace in India, and this must be one of the reasons that he has picked up shares in the firm.”
According to industry sources, Premji, through his private equity fund PremjiInvest, picked up about 300,000 shares of the company from secondary market.
Koutons rose over Rs 110 crore when it went public in October 2007. Through the franchise route, the company operates more than 1,100 stores across India.
