Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) is looking to sell as much as 50% stake in PGP Glass Private Limited that it acquired three years ago, three people aware of the development said. The global private equity firm has named investment bank Jefferies Group Llc to find buyers for the bottle maker earlier called Piramal Glass, and large global funds have been sounded out, the people said on the condition of anonymity. "The deal is at a very early stage.

The information memorandums (IMs) are yet to be sent out. Some PE funds have been informally approached," one of the persons said. Blackstone bought 100% stake in PGP Glass in 2020 from the Piramal Group for INR 69,880 million (about $1 billion then).

While $850 million was paid upfront, around $150 million was set to be paid later after certain milestones. The partial stake sale will help the US-based PE firm derisk its investment in the Mumbai-based firm, the second person cited above added. Blackstone's stake sale strategy is similar to what Temasek Holdings Ltd, the Singapore government's sovereign fund, is looking to do with its investment in Manipal Hospital.

Mint had reported earlier that Temasek is in talks with sovereign wealth funds to sell a minority stake in the hospital chain where it holds around 59% stake. Blackstone declined to comment to an emailed query from Mint. Jefferies did not immediately respond to a request for comment on 10 December 2023.