Godrej to raise $150 mn to buy Sara Lee stake

NEW DELHI: Billionaire Adi Godrej said his Godrej Consumer Products may raise as much as $150 million from selling shares to fund its purchase of Sara Lee’s stake in an Indian venture and other acquisitions.

India’s second-biggest maker of bath soap plans to sell shares worth more than half of the e185 million ($228 million) it agreed to pay for Sara Lee’s 51% stake in their joint venture, said Godrej.

“We might want to raise a little more equity this time so that later on we can raise a little more debt, if required,” he said in a May 14 interview in Mumbai, where Godrej Consumer is based.