L&T gets nod for MindTree’s open offer

Engineering behemoth Larsen and Toubro has received the Securities Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi) nod for the open offer to buy the scrips of mid-tier IT services company MindTree.

“Yes, we have received the nod from the Sebi today. However, the commencement date is not likely to be before the second week of June,” a source in the know said.

According to the open offer document issued by L&T, it was scheduled to be launched on May 14 and completed on May 27.

The offer, which took a lot of time to get Sebi's nod, is stuck in the process of the regulator's verifications. "Sebi usually takes time to clear the queries," the source said.

However, as reported by DH on Thursday, the sources added that it's very unlikely that the engineering giant will revise its offer price, as MindTree's shares have been shooting up in anticipation of the open offer. "The company has to hold its nerves. I don't think we will revise the offer," the sources had said.

At the time of filing this copy, the Mindtree scrips were trading at Rs 984.30 a piece – more than Rs 4 more than offered by the L&T. The company is said to be already paying Rs 100 premium for buying a stake in the IT services firm.

Till now, L&T has acquired 28.87% stake in the Mindtree. Of this, the company had purchased around 20% stake of VG Siddhartha, who had pledged his stake with various banks, and Coffee Day in Mindtree through a block deal for about Rs 3,210 crore

In all, the infrastructure major is eyeing up to 66% stake in Mindtree for around Rs 10,800 crore -- marking the country’s first-ever hostile takeover bid in the IT industry.