Founder of Future Group Kishore Biyani has stepped down from the post of managing director of Future Retail Ltd. The move is a part of a restructuring plan to execute the merger of the company with Bharti Retail, which was announced last year.
The resignation would be effective from May 1, 2016, but Biyani would continue to hold the post of a non-executive director of Future Retail Limited, the company said in a regulatory filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.
"Mr. Kishore Biyani, resigned from the post of Managing Director with effect from closing business hours of May 01, 2016," the company said in the regulatory filing.
In May 2015, Biyani-owned Future Group had reportedly agreed to merge its retail business with its competitor Bharti Retail, in an all-stock-deal, which was reportedly worth Rs. 750 crore. The merger led to the creation of the one of the largest chains of supermarket in India, which had a turnover of Rs. 15,000 crore, Business Standard reported.
As part of the deal, Future Group would reportedly have two separate entities: retail outlets (which include Big Bazaar, E-zone, Foodhall and HomeTown) and enterprises (including back-end operation, logistics and non-core assets).
The Future Group was founded by Kishore Biyani and has retail outlets spread across 102 cities in India. As of February 2015, Biyani's net worth was Rs. 3,321 crore, Business Standard had reported last year.
Last month Future Group acquired FabFurnish in an all-cash deal and the acquisition of the Indian start up company, which sells furniture on the internet, marked the entry of the retail brand into the e-commerce space, the Economic Times had reported.
The Future Retail stock was trading at Rs. 154.80 at around 10.40 a.m. on Tuesday, up 3.51 percent from its previous close on the BSE.
