Maxworth Orchards changes hands

CHENNAI, Jan 25: The Chennai-based Maxworth Orchards India Ltd and Maxworth Orchards Intl Ltd, ailing flagships of the Maxworth group, h...

CHENNAI, Jan 25: The Chennai-based Maxworth Orchards India Ltd and Maxworth Orchards Intl Ltd, ailing flagships of the Maxworth group, have been reportedly taken over by a team of three entrepreneurs led by K G Krishnaswamy of Chitoor. The new management which took over the company last week is now in the process of examining the credit position of the company.

The assets and the liabilities are being valued to find out the financial status of Maxworth Orchards.

According to company sources, the deal for taking over the company was concluded in the first week of January and the new management took over the reins last week under Dorai Babu as the Chief Executive Officer.

The sources also say that the management led by Krishnaswamy is expected to infuse funds to the tune of around Rs 25 crore to put the company back on the rails.

The entrepreneurial team is also said to be drafting letters to the Maxworth unitholders on the position of their investments in the company. The company has also assured non-banking financial companies that their outstandings would be cleared. Though the takeover has apparently been finalised, it is not very clear as to how much of the equity stake has changed hands. While it is clear that the management control now rests with the Chitoor group, it is not known if R Subramaniam has entirely relinquished his stake in the company .Despite repeated attempts, he remained unavailable for comment.

Before the takeover, the promoters8217; stake was 41.82 per cent, public shareholding 35.15 per cent, top 50 shareholders controled 12.47 per cent of the stake, corporate bodies held 8.88 per cent,FIs hold a 1.5 per cent stake and foreign sharholders have a paltry .08 per cent. Incidentally, it has been confirmed that the Company Secretary and the Board of Directors of Maxworth Orchards have resigned and the other employees are also anxious over their uncertain position. The fate of other Maxworth group companies like Maxworth Country and Maxworth Homes is still not known.

The company has been under severe pressure on its finances and Subramaniam has been scouting for a buyer for quite some time until this deal was finalised.