At a time when other promoters are chickening out of warrant conversions, thanks to battered stock prices, Nitin Kasliwal of S Kumars Nationwide has gone ahead and converted 1,24,25,000 warrants into equity shares at ₹64.53 a share — a 112% premium to the market price of ₹30.40 a share. Besides, the promoters have also recently picked up 1,747,179 shares from the open market under the creeping acquisition limit. As a result, overall promoter holding has gone up to 48.59% from 45.74%. Though 77% of the promoter holding is pledged with lenders, Kasliwal explains, “These shares were pledged to lenders under the CDR plan in 2004 as promoters’ commitment to the restructuring.” In the coming months, the 51-year-old Kasliwal is looking at revoking the pledge. “We are in talks with lenders for releasing the pledge as we have come out of the CDR package,” he says. But more than the pledge, SKNL’s fortunes hinge on the proposed ₹1,000-crore IPO of its premium retail brand, Reid & Taylor, which has been on the back burner for long.