Sebi to get tough with companies with high promoter holding

About 200 listed companies with promoter stake of more than 75 per cent are set for some tough talk from Sebi, which is mulling options including monetary penalties and eventual delisting of non-compliant entities.

The deadline for all private sector listed companies to bring down their respective promoter shareholdings to 75 per cent or below is now just seven months away and the regulator has begun the process of identifying those entities that have

initiated any process for adhering to this requirement.

"In the first phase, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has initiated a consultative process with such companies, wherein the regulator is asking them to provide a plan of action to achieve compliance and to resolve all

outstanding issues," a senior official said.

The regulator will also inform these companies, whose number is estimated to be more than 200, about the potential penalties and other regulatory actions they might face in case of non-compliance, he added.

In the second phase, Sebi plans to ask stock exchanges to monitor compliance to these 'plans of action' on steps being taken to increase the public shareholding to a minimum of 25 per cent and issue notices to the non-adhering firms.

At the same time, investors in these companies would also be informed about the potential risks they face due to penal actions to be taken against such entities, the official added.

Major companies where the promoter holding was more than 75 per cent at the end of last quarter (September 30) include DLF, Jet Airways, Wipro, Tata Communications, Tata Tele, Sun TV, L&T Finance, Omaxe, Fortis Healthcare and Reliance Power.

Such firms also include Bajaj Corp, Essar Shipping, Essar Ports, Jaypee Infratech, Mahindra Holidays, Muthoot Finance, Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Oberoi Realty and JSW Energy.

Together, these companies would need to sell shares worth an estimated amount of more than Rs 30,000 crore to meet the required shareholding norms.

... contd.

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