Sheths become minority shareholder in Gesco

Sheths become minority shareholder in Gesco
AGENCIES

JAN 15: As a fallout of the takeover bid by Dalmias, Gesco Corporation's original promoters - the Sheth family - are likely to remain minority shareholders in their own company, with the Mahindra group assuming controlling stake after the ongoing open offer closes on January 24.

The open offer had been mounted by the Sheth-Mahindra combine for 33.5 per cent of all outstanding Gesco shares at Rs 44 per share in December last, but since then the Dalmias have sold out their entire 10.54 per cent holding to the Mahindra Realty and Infrastructure Development Ltd (MRIDL) at Rs. 54 per share.

The Sheths at present hold 13 per cent stake in Gesco, while the Mahindras hold another 17 per cent stake. Financial institutions (FIs) collectively hold 12-13 per cent while the remaining equity is held by the public.

When contacted, Gesco Managing Director Ghanshyam Sheth declined to comment on the family shareholding post-offer and said: "we currently hold 13 per cent in the company. What our shareholding will be at the close of the offer is speculation and I would not like to get into that".

But he admitted that the future plans of Gesco were heavily dependent upon what Mahindras will bring to the table. "Gesco is currently into business centres and project management. While we will expand majority with the project managament venture soon, our activities in the area of business centre development will be chalked out once the Mahindra shareholding in Gesco becomes clear".

Sheth said he was happy about the way in which the hostile' takeover bid by the Delhi-based A H Dalmia group was mounted and the deal finally worked out. "Neither we nor the Dalmias washed dirty linen in public. The deal was struck in such a way that everyone benefitted from it".

On Monday last, the Sheth-Mahindra consortium reached an agreement with Renaissance Estates Director Abhishek Dalmia, as per which MRIDL purchased the 10.5 per cent shares (about 30 lakh shares) of the Dalmia group in Gesco at a price of Rs 54 per share on a pot delivery basis.

The joint stake of the Sheth-Mahindra consortium, after this deal, is 30 per cent and after the completion of the open offer, the consortium is expected to have close to 65 per cent of the paid up equity capital of Gesco.

The Dalmia group had made an open offer for acquiring 45 per cent of Gesco shares at a price of Rs 27 per share. In response, the Sheth-Mahindra combine made a counter bid to acquire 33.5 per cent at a price of Rs 44 per share.

The public offer of the Dalmias opened on November 24 and that of Sheth-Mahindra combine on December 26 with both offers to close on January 24.