Khetan Group sells out its stake in Bottlers Nepal.

In the largest-ever inter-company share trading, the Khetan Group sold out its entire stake in Bottlers Nepal Ltd (Balaju), 

the maker of Coca Cola carbonated drinks in Nepal, to Gorkha Brewery, a company whose 90 percent stake is owned by 

Dennish multinational brewer giant, Carlsberg Breweries. The Khetan Group had a 22 percent stake in Bottlers Nepal Ltd 

(Balaju).  The leading business houses sold 428,805 units of shares worth Rs 725.1 million on Sunday, first day of the new 

fiscal year when reduced Capital Gain Tax (CGT) came into effect.

Gorkha Brewer is the largest beer maker in Nepal. In the new budget for the fiscal year 2011/12, the government has 

lowered the CGT on corporate share transactions to 10 percent from 15 percent. The group had bought the 22-percent stake 

at around Rs 300 million from Coca Cola Company last year. The huge transaction jacked up the yawning Nepal Stock 

Exchange (Nepse) index by a whopping 19.18 points, highest gain in recent weeks, to 378.41 points on Sunday. Gorkha 

Brewery has paid Rs 1,691 per unit of the shares with a face value of Rs 100. Following the transaction, Bottlers Nepal 

(Balaju) now owns 75 percent stake in the company while 22 percent is owned by Gorkha Brewery and other stakeholders 

own the remaining 3 percent stake of the US multinational company. The Khetan Group, which is a privately-owned 

usiness conglomerate, said the purpose for offloading the stake is to shift its investments to the financial sector from 

the manufacturing sector. 

"Since we are planning to go for acquisitions of banks with Laxmi Bank, we sold the shares of Bottlers Nepal (Balaju) to 

mobilize at least Rs 5 billion we need for the purpose," Rajendra Kumar Khetan, chairman of Khetan Group told Republica. 

The group also has sizable stakes in two leading commercial banks  Laxmi Bank and Himalayan Bank.  besides stakes inEverest Insurance and Prime Life Insurance. The group last year sold its 40 percent stake in Gorkha Brewery to 

Carlsberg Singapore for around Rs 3 billion that trimmed its equity in the company to 10 percent while remaining

90 percent is owned by Carlsberg Singapore. Gorkha Brewery, a dominant brand in the beer market in Nepal, is the 

producer of Carlsberg Beer, Tuborg Beer, San Miguel Beer, and Gorkha Beer.