NEW DELHI: Diversified group ITC on Wednesday denied that it was in the race to acquire Coffee Day Enterprises though it was approached for a deal.
A report had said the Kolkata-based group having a presence in cigarettes to hospitality and IT, is considering a bid to buy a stake in the Coffee Day Enterprises that runs Cafe Coffee Day chain.
When contacted, an ITC spokesperson said, "ITC receives enquiries from market participants on an ongoing basis which are suitably evaluated. One such enquiry was received from an intermediary on Cafe Coffee Day. However, no progress was made on the matter."
Debt-laden Coffee Day Enterprises, whose promoter and former chairman and managing director V G Siddhartha had committed suicide in July, has also been linked with Coca Cola as the company seeks to reduce its liabilities.
The Coffee Day Group had said it has a total debt of Rs 4,970 crore and it was looking at divesting assets to reduce it.
Last week, the company had announced the sale of its Global Village Tech Park in Bengaluru to Blackstone for up to Rs 3,000 crore to cut its debt.
"On receipt of the consideration for the sale of Global Village after payment of required statutory payments, the debt position of Coffee Day Group will reduce around by Rs 2,400 crore," it had said.