Tata Sons likely to list, Tata Chemicals could be biggest beneficiary, says Deven Choksey

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Choksey, Managing Director of DRChoksey Finserv Private Limited, expects Tata Sons to list eventually, and he believes Tata Chemicals will be the biggest winner when that happens. He laid out the case on a market show, pointing to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) mandate and the Tata Group’s own funding needs as the two forces pushing toward a listing.

He explained that Shapoorji Pallonji Group holds close to 19% of Tata Sons and needs roughly ₹25,000 crore over the next one and a half to two years. At the same time, Air India requires about ₹24,000-25,000 crore in funding, Tata Electronics has a program worth ₹90,000 crore, and the group’s digital businesses need another ₹28,000-29,000 crore, even as they remain loss-making.

With Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) dividends of ₹28,000-29,000 crore not enough to cover all of this, Choksey said a Tata Sons listing becomes the most workable source of capital.

“I believe Tata Chemicals is likely to be the prime beneficiary” of a Tata Sons listing, Choksey said, noting that Tata Chemicals’ stake in Tata Sons is worth more than the company’s entire current market value. He said investors should hold on to Tata Group stocks even amid uncertainty over board dynamics, since he expects the RBI and government’s push for listing to prevail over resistance from the Tata Trusts.

Choksey discussed Yatharth Hospital after the company secured growth capital from Advent, a private equity investor, to fund plans to double its bed capacity within three years. He called the company a smaller, tier-two operator that is expanding beds at a lower cost than larger rivals in bigger cities, and said the hospital segment overall looks attractive given the pace of bed additions, though he said the specific investment case needs closer review.

Choksey also weighed in on the National Stock Exchange’s initial public offering (IPO), which saw muted early subscription of about 0.43 times. “It’s a must in the portfolio,” he said, pointing to the exchange business’s high profitability and its practice of distributing 50-70% of profits to shareholders.

He said institutional buyers such as LIC, insurers, pension funds and sovereign funds are likely to be drawn to those cash flows, and that retail investors with a five-to-10-year horizon could benefit as India’s market capitalisation grows. He added that BSE remains a reasonable holding too, since NSE dominates cash and futures trading while BSE has gained share in options, giving investors reason to hold both.On the broader market, Choksey said largecap valuations look compelling, largely because large funds, including foreign portfolio investors, have stayed on the sidelines. “This is the best time to accumulate some of the quality stocks in the portfolio,” he said, adding that markets are approaching two years since their September 2024 peak and that he expects a rally to follow the recent sideways move.

For the full interview, watch the accompanying video

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