Shapoorji Pallonji & Company Limited has restarted the sale process of Eureka Forbes Limited, two people aware of the development said. The cash-strapped group has begun talks with potential buyers, including private equity funds and a well-known consumer appliances company, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity. The SP Group initiated talks to sell the company popular for its vacuum cleaners and water purifiers last year but had suspended the process mid-way.

"Eureka Forbes is one of the best-known consumer brands in India, and the SP Group was evaluating other structures to monetize the asset without divesting ownership," said one of the two people cited above. "As part of this, they were engaged with a large Canadian fund to raisedebt by pledging the cash flows of Eureka Forbes as collateral," this person added. "The transaction (with the Canadian fund) was part of SP Group's plans to pledge part of its stake in Tata Sons Ltd. to raisedebt," said the second person.

"But with the deal running into trouble after Tata Sons objected to the transaction and the matter sub judice, the SP Group has decided to exit Eureka Forbes altogether and is seeking an enterprise valuation of around INR 70,000 million". The company did not respond to a request for comment.