INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
New Delhi: Infrastructure major Larsen and Toubro (LT) picked up 7.11 lakh shares of IT firm Mindtree between May 27-30 for about Rs 70
crore, according to regulatory data.
The development assumes significance as LT has been steadily increasing its holding in the
Bengaluru-based tech firm where it acquired around 20 per cent stake of V G Siddhartha and Cafe Coffee Day last month.
LT, which has been
pursuing a hostile takeover of Mindtree, has expressed its intent to ramp up its shareholding up to 66 per cent.
According to BSE data, LT
acquired shares from the open market throughout the week (May 27-30) with the highest quantum of shares being purchased on May 28 when it
picked up over 3.5 lakh shares of Mindtree at Rs 979.98 apiece.
A back-of-the-envelope calculation showed that the company spent close to Rs
70 crore during the week for these transactions, which took its overall shareholding to 28.88 per cent.
In multiple tranches, LT mopped up
more than 7.11 lakh shares during the said week
Shares of Mindtree ended flat at Rs 977.70 apiece on BSE on Friday (May 31).
In March, LT mounted a hostile takeover bid on Mindtree when it
entered into a deal to buy Cafe Coffee Day owner V G Siddhartha's 20.32 per cent stake in Mindtree and also placed an order with brokers
to pick up another 15 per cent of the company shares from the open market.
Subsequent to these deals, LT is required to make an open offer
In all, the infrastructure major is eyeing up to 66 per cent stake in Mindtree for around Rs 10,800 crore.
LT's open offer - which was
earlier slated to begin on May 14 - has been delayed as the engineering major is awaiting nod from the Securities and Exchange Board of
Emails sent to LT didn't elicit a response.
