Beer maker Bira raises ₹85 cr, trims staff

9 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 mid-July, the people cited earlier said on 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 has about 6,500 private investors, and a large family office is also likely to now come in as a first-time investor.