A C Muthiah seeks to shed promoter status in Sical

CHENNAI: After selling the logistics services provider Sical to Cafe Coffee Day in 2011, A C Muthiah group’s shareholding will move out of the ‘promoter’ category as the company is seeking shareholders nod to declassify the group.
In a notice to shareholders, Sical has said, “The request for reclassification was considered at the board meeting held on May 17, and the board formed a rationale being subsequent to the open offer by Tanglin Retail Reality Developments, the shareholding of the above persons/entities forming part of promoter group [MAC Group] have fallen below 10% and is currently at 3.54%.They also do not possess any special rights / privileges and have not nominated any director to the board of directors currently.” The shareholders are to meet on September 12.
After 56 years of running the trading entity which later diversified into logistics and coal handling, MAC group logged out of Sical in September 2011.
V G Siddhartha, the promoter of Cafe Coffee Day pushed Sical to handle the logistics of the coffee chain. With the death of Sidhartha, Sical has been under lens from its creditors. Sical in a filing with stock exchanges has sought a moratorium of 3 months to repay loans.
“The company would utilize the available internal resources to augment the existing cashflows to cater to the need of the operation of the business verticals and sought the lenders help in providing a one-time moratorium for three months period (August 2019 to October 2019) from servicing their debts,” the company said.
The company’s annual report for fiscal year ended March 2019 showed that the total value of long-term debt of Sical Logistics and its subsidiaries stood at Rs 808 crore including term loans and debentures from various banks and NBFCs. For the year ended March 2019, finance costs stood at Rs 64 crore.
Sical has also said it has initiated a process to de-leverage its businesses and bring down the debt.
The company’s stock hit the upper end of the circuit breaker with a 5% rise in prices at Rs 35.6 apiece. It has lost nearly 70% since the death of Sidhartha.