Shares of Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd (ABFRL) dropped 8.37% in early trade on Tuesday to ₹78.80 on the NSE following a large block deal. Around 9.3 crore shares, or 7.6% equity in the company, changed hands in a transaction valued at approximately ₹755 crore.
According to CNBC Awaaz, Flipkart is likely the seller, offloading its entire 6% stake in the company. The deal was reportedly executed at a floor price of ₹80 per share, nearly 7% below ABFRL’s previous close of ₹86. Goldman Sachs is said to have facilitated the transaction.
This development comes just weeks after ABFRL announced the demerger of its lifestyle business into Aditya Birla Lifestyle Brand (ABLBL), which houses brands like Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, and Peter England. The new entity is expected to list on the stock exchanges by the end of June 2025.
Following the demerger, Nuvama Institutional Equities downgraded ABFRL from ‘Buy’ to ‘Hold’, citing fair valuations and sluggish growth in the core portfolio. The brokerage assigned a revised target price of ₹84.
As of 9:18 am, the stock was trading with a market cap of ₹96.93 billion and had hit an intraday low of ₹79.56.
