Blackstone to trim stake in PGP Glass

Jefferies appointed to find buyers; global funds sounded out

- Sneha Shah & Ranjani Raghavan

Global private equity (PE) firm Blackstone Inc. is looking to sell as much as 50% stake in PGP Glass Pvt. Ltd that it acquired three years ago, three people aware of the development said.

The PE firm has named investment bank Jefferies Group Llc to find buyers for the bottle maker earlier called Piramal Glass, and large global funds have been sounded out, the people said on the condition of anonymity. "The deal is at a very early stage. The information memorandums (IMs) are yet to be sent out. Some PE funds have been informally approached," one of the persons said.

Blackstone bought 100% stake in PGP Glass in 2020 from the Piramal Group for ₹6,988 crore (about $1 billion then). While $850 million was paid upfront, around $150 million was set to be paid later after certain milestones.

The partial stake sale will help the US-based PE firm derisk its investment in the Mumbai-based firm, the second person cited above added.

Blackstone’s stake sale strategy is similar to what Temasek Holdings Ltd, the Singapore government’s sovereign fund, is looking to do with its investment in Manipal Hospital.