Rashesh Shah needs saving
The Edelweiss founder has drawn up an ambitious plan to pare the company's debt. But the lofty valuations of the assets on offer may be hard to justify.
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Editor's note: Edelweiss Financial Services, the financial services arm of the over two-decade-old group founded by Rashesh Shah, is going for a big sale of its assets in an attempt to raise around Rs 8,000 crore and pare its mountain of debt, which currently stands at over three times its net worth. The sale includes a 14% stake in its wealth management business (Edelweiss Wealth Management) and a complete or partial exit from the life insurance (Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance) and housing finance (Edelweiss Housing Finance) businesses. Besides, the company has put some of its corporate and treasury assets on the block as well. Shareholders were informed about the sale at the company’s annual general meeting on 2 September. The company explained that this would help it meet the target of reducing debt by Rs 5,500 crore over the next four years. This came just two months after we reported that the group was facing a cash flow crisis, which had prompted it to look at options to sell its mutual fund business. (The company issued a denial to the stock exchanges; …
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