Sebi examines sale of pledged shares of Reliance Group firms
NEW DELHI: Market regulator securities and exchange board of India (Sebi) is looking into allegations and counter-allegat i ons r e l at e d t o t he s al e of pledged shares of Anil Ambaniled Reliance Group’s three listed firms by two lenders, senior officials said Monday.
Reliance Group has accused L&T Finance and Edelweiss Group entities of “illegal” and “motivated” actions in invoking t he pl e dged s hares of Anil Ambani group firms and selling them in open market causing a steep fall in share values.
L&T Finance and Edelweiss Group have refuted the allegations and have counter-alleged that Reliance Group failed to make timely payments, which they said necessitated sale of pledged shares.
Officials said the regulator has asked exchanges to look into the trade details and seek clarifications from the concerned entities regarding open market s al e of s hares t o ascertai n whet h e r a n y n o r ms wer e breached in the process.
The regulator will subsequently examine whether there was any violation of regulations relating to insider trading and disclosure norms, the officials said.
Reliance Power has already written to Sebi to investigate the matter and impose restrain on entities that pressed huge sale orders significantly below the prevailing market price and and in-depth investigate the matter.
Si mil a r c o mplai nt s a r e expected to be filed by Reliance Capital and Reliance Infrastructure as well, sources said.
When contacted, a Reliance Group spokesperson said, “As resolved by the boards of various group companies, we will take all legal steps necessary to protect and enhance the value of our stakeholders, including pursuing the matter with an appropriate regulator.”
Earlier on Saturday, boards of three listed companies of the group—reliance Power, Reliance Infra and Reliance Capital—had approved and recommended “all appropriate legal steps” to protect shareholders’ value.
Whe n contacted, L&T Finance and Edelweiss referred to their statements issued on Fr i d a y i n whic h t h e y h a d strongly refuted the allegations of Reliance Group.
In its regulatory filing, Reliance Power had said its board reviewed the events leading to a sharp fall in market capitalisation and destruction of wealth due to “illegal, motivated and unwarranted actions of L&T Finance Limited and Edelweiss Group impacting its over 3.1.75 lakh shareholders”.
Reliance Capital, on the other hand, said its over 7 lakh shareholders have been impacted by what it termed as “illegal, motivated and unwarranted actions of L&T Finance”.
Reliance I nfrastructure blamed L&T Finance for market value erosion, saying it has impacted its over 8 lakh shareholders.