Religare sells PE firm Cerestra Advisors to its management for Rs 5.73 crore

NEW DELHI: Religare Enterprise sold its entire stake in Cerestra Advisors to a team led by the managing partner of the firm that manages its Rs 600-crore private equity fund, for Rs 5.73 crore.

Cerestra Advisors’ maiden fund, Cerestra Edu-Infra Fund, invests in real estate assets in the education sector, particularly in buying out buildings of kindergarten to class-12 schools and lease them back to same educational institutions.

Last year, Religare had agreed to sell Cerestra Advisors to a consortium led by Dubai-based Capital Partnership Group for over $3 million (nearly Rs 20 crore), said a person familiar with that deal. The consortium partners also included a high net worth Indian and the management team under Cerestra Advisors managing partner Jasmeet Chhabra. However, the deal was called off after the local partner walked out of the transaction, he said.

In a filing to stock exchanges on Friday, Religare Enterprises said it entered into a new deal to sell the stake after terminating previous agreements.

Shares of Religare Enterprises closed at Rs 40.40, nearly 5% higher, on the BSE Friday when the benchmark Sensex remained almost flat.