The Hindu Business Line : Lukewarm response to Actis' offer for Swaraj Mazda stake

Sources said that following the open offer, which closed on January 17, Actis has been able to raise its stake in the light commercial vehicles manufacturing firm to close to 18 per cent.

Actis' combined stake (direct as well as indirect through its shareholding in Punjab Tractors) in Swaraj Mazda Ltd is about 12.6 per cent.

This suggests that the private equity investor managed to pick up roughly about six per cent through its open offer.

The fact that investors did not go in for the open offer despite a revised offer price of Rs 400 (from the earlier Rs 315) suggests that they expect the stock price to increase following recent developments at Swaraj Mazda.

The stock closed at Rs 376.45 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on January 17, the last day of the open offer.

Punjab Tractors, which holds 29.04 per cent in SML, had recently announced that it intends to sell around half of its 29.04 per cent stake in SML to the Japan-based Sumitomo Corporation.

If the sell-off proposal goes through, Sumitomo would emerge as the largest shareholder in SML with a shareholding of about 25.4 per cent, as it already has a shareholding of 10.41 per cent in SML.

The announcement had, however, raised considerable interest in the market as it came while Actis' open offer for SML was underway.

Meanwhile, the SML stock fell by Rs 16.95 at closing, on the BSE, on Monday to Rs 353.35.

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