Indian Billionaire Monk’s Edible Oil Maker Gets Ready To Tap The Stock Market

Indian Billionaire Monk’s Edible Oil Maker Gets Ready To Tap The Stock Market

Acharya Balkrishna during a preview of a TV series on Discovery JEET, at Chhatrasal Stadium, on ... [+] February 10, 2018 in New Delhi, India. Edible oil maker Ruchi Soya, owned by billionaire Acharya Balkrishna's consumer goods giant Patanjali Ayurved, finally received approval from India's stock market regulator recently to launch a $585 million follow-on public offer (FPO) of its shares. Listed Ruchi Soya is 99% owned by privately held Patanjali and the FPO for close to 10% of its shares is the first step in fulfilling the regulatory requirement of having a minimum 25% public float. The company has until December 2022 to meet that target. Patanjali had acquired Ruchi Soya for $620 million, through a bankruptcy court order, in December 2019 after billionaire Gautam Adani withdrew from the bidding process. The latter's Adani Wilmar, a joint venture with the Kuok clan's Wilmar International, had been the only other serious contender for Ruchi Soya. Patanjali's cofounder Baba Ramdev (who has a board seat but owns no shares in the company), is a politically well-connected yoga guru. Ramdev and Balkrishna, who are close friends, founded Patanjali in 2006 as a maker of a range of herbal, ayurveda products. Patanjali sells