Beer maker Bira raises ₹85 cr, trims staff

Beverages has already raised ₹85 crore by selling fresh shares to existing investors at a massive discount, as the maker of Bira beer shrinks its workforce and restructures its operations to focus on fewer markets to cut costs, people close to the development said.

- Varuni Khosla & Priyamvada C

The company, founded by Ankur Jain in 2015, is raising a total ₹100 crore in a rights issue for working capital requirements, and the remainder ₹15 crore is expected to be raised by the middle of July, the people cited earlier said on the condition of anonymity.

These shares are being sold at ₹325 apiece, a substantial discount of 55% from a previous round when Japanese beer maker Kirin came in at over ₹700 per share. B9 currently has about 6,500 private investors, and a large family office is also likely to now come in as a first-time investor. The people cited earlier also said B9 has now reworked its arrangements with four breweries, which will no longer manufacture exclusively for them. This is being done to control costs.