At 70% discount, is this holding company stock a bargain?

Summary: It’s rare to find a holding company trading at just 0.3x book value and this one even owns a stake in a well-known consumer brand. On paper, it has all the makings of a rare deep-value find. Let’s find out if it really is one. A holding company trading at a staggering 70 per cent discount to its book value is bound to turn heads, especially of bargain hunters. Add to that zero debt and solid equity reserves worth Rs 2,400 crore and the stock in question, VLS Finance, starts looking like a dreamy value bet. But before you rush to the counter, it’s worth considering if the steep discount might actually be justified. A closer look at this seemingly appealing small cap, with a P/B ratio as low as 0.3 times, shows why the market may be perfectly reasonable in keeping its distance. Opaque investments: A black box VLS Finance, which once pursued nearly every financial service imaginable including leasing, stock broking, merchant banking, investment advisory, offshore funds, never actually b