Promoters of recently listed cos need to pare ₹9,928 crore of stakes
MUMBAI: Promote rs of companies that went public in the last two years (2015 and 2016) need to shed stakes worth close to ₹9,928 crore over the next 12-24 months to comply with Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)’s norm son minimum public shareholding in listed companies, a Mint analysis shows. According to Se bi’ s norms, listed companies have to ensure a minimum of 25% public shareholding in three years from the time of listing.
Firms that need to shed the largest quantum of stakes include ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co Ltd and two L&T group companies — L&T Infotech Ltd and L& T Technology Services Ltd— all of which went public in 2016.
Promote rs of I CI CI Prudential Life Insurance Co Ltd need to sell at least 5.72% stake to meet the norms, which at last closing, means a share sale worth over ₹3,300 crore. L&T Infotech and L& T Technology Services need to sell shares worth over ₹1,000 crore each.
In September, Bloomberg reported that ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co’s promoters UK’s Prudential Plc and ICICI Bank Ltd are considering a possible deal top are their stakes as soonasinthenext fewmonths to meet minimum requirement of 75% public float. ICICI Bank and Prudential are considering selling a 6% stake, through multiple transactions, Bloomberg said.
Inox Wind Ltd, which listed in April 2015, has the shortest time to meet the norms. Promoters of Inox Wind need to shed 10.6% stake in the company, worth around ₹265 crore, by April 2018.
However, a steep fall in the company’s stock price could become an obstacle in such a share sale. From its listing day closing of ₹438 per share, the stock of Inox Wind has fallen to ₹113.55 per share, as of closing on Wednesday. Since the start of 2017, the stock has declined by almost 40%, data from stock exchanges shows.
So far in 2017, some companies have already made efforts towards reducing promoter shareholding, taking advantage of the liquidity in the stock markets. In September, InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, which runs the In di Go Airlines, sold a total of 33.5 million shares through an institutional placement programme (IPP), reducing promoter shareholding to 77.91% from 85.85% at the end of June quarter.
Earlier in August, Thomas Cook( India) Ltd owned business services firm Quess Corp Ltd, sold shares worth ₹873.92 crore through an IPP, reducing promoter shareholding by 7.06%.