Auto components maker Minda Corporation Ltd on Wednesday (January 17) offloaded a 15.07% stake in automotive components maker Pricol Ltd for around ₹631 crore through an open market transaction.
ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund (MF), Fidelity India Fund, Tata MF, Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Company, Goldman Sachs India, City of New York Group Trust, and Carnelian Asset Management & Advisors, among others, were the buyers.
As per the block deal data available with the NSE, Minda Corporation Ltd sold more than 1.83 crore shares. The shares were disposed of at an average price of Rs 343.60 apiece.
After the latest transaction, Minda Corporation's shareholding has declined to 0.63% from a 15.70% stake (at the end of the December quarter) in the company.
Minda Corp had acquired 1.91 crore shares or 15.7% of Pricol's total equity at ₹209 per share on February 17 last year in a deal valued at ₹400 crore. Based on the current price, that stake would be valued at ₹708 crore, resulting in a net gain of around ₹300 crore for Minda Corp.
In what was touted to be a takeover attempt, Minda Corp mentioned that this was only a financial investment and would not fetch them any special rights in Pricol other than those of a normal shareholder.
The management of Pricol had told CNBC-TV18 on February 17 that the promoters have no intention to sell any stake in the company as it is on the path of growth and is doing well.
Managing Director Vikram Mohan said that they see no synergies in a deal with Minda Corp and that the latter is competition for them.
"I definitely do not want to sell. I'm 1,000 percent committed to this business," Mohan said. "Our market share has gone up. We have a very strong order book, zero long-term debt, healthy cash profits, and capacity, and we know we are on a growth curve. So why would I sell?" he further added.
On January 4 this year, India's competition regulator said that prima facie, the proposed merger by Minda may have adverse on competition and that it intends to conduct further inquiry into the process.
Shares of Pricol are off the day's low, currently trading 2% lower at ₹360.70, while those of Minda Corp have surged to the day's high, currently trading 3% higher at ₹395.75.
(Edited by : Hormaz Fatakia)
First Published: Jan 17, 2024 2:39 PM IST
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