MILAN – Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) founder and chairman V G Siddhartha has sold 600,000 shares (1.5% stake) in Mindtree for about INR650 million (US$10.4 million), according to reports.
In a regulatory filing, Siddhartha and his group company, Coffee Day Resorts, said on Friday, they had sold 400,000 and 200,000 Mindtree shares, respectively, through the open market.
Siddhartha, along with two group companies – Coffee Day Resorts and Global Technology Ventures – is the single largest shareholder in Mindtree holding with a 21.56% stake in the information technology company .
Last year, he along with his group companies bought 3.82% in Mindtree, increasing the shareholding from 17.72% to 21.46% as on June 30.
In other news, CCD has quietly intensified the battle for upscale locations in Bangalore as Starbucks is muscling into the city, reports Times of India.
Starbucks is said to be planning at least a dozen cafes across the city in its initial burst, said people familiar with the plans.
“The Bangalore high-street real-estate scenario has been sewed up well and truly by CCD. The best locations in the best locales have been dominated.
The cluster approach of CCD has also ensured a saturation of outlets in many a Bangalore locale,” said to the daily Harish Bijoor, brand-strategy specialist and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults.
