The Hindu Business Line : Open offers to be made at bid price

INDIAN Oil Corporation (IOC) and Panatone Finvest (a Tata group company) will have to make open offers for buying 20 per cent stakes of IBP Co Ltd and VSNL held by the public at their respective bid prices of Rs 1,551.25 per share for IBP and Rs 202 per share for VSNL.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had amended the provisions of the takeover code recently to link the open offer price to the price offered by the highest bidder for the Government's stake or the average price of the divested company's scrip for the last six months, whichever was higher.

"In the case of both IBP and VSNL, the open offer price would be the bid price since this was higher of the two," official sources said.

Significantly, the price quoted by the successful bidders for both IBP and VSNL were substantially higher than the prevailing market price of the scrip. To that extent, it would entail a higher outgo for IOC and the Tatas for acquiring controlling stakes in IBP and VSNL.

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