On 29th May 2019, Infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L & T) Ltd acquired 97,815 equity shares of Mindtree Ltd. The mode of acquisition was through the open market. This acquisition raised the overall shareholding of L&T in Mindtree to 28.87%. The purchase was made at Rs. 980 apiece. Indian Multinational conglomerate is eyeing up to acquire an overall 66.32% shareholding in Mindtree for around Rs. 10,800 crores.

Hostile Takeover Bid

L&T launched its hostile takeover bid plan to acquire Mindtree on 18th March 2019. After completion of this bid, the Indian IT industry will witness its first hostile takeover bid.
On 2nd April, L&T announced its plan of a hostile takeover. According to the plan, L&T will first acquire 20.32% stake which is jointly held by Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) founder V.G. Siddhartha and two of CCD’s associate firms. This will be followed by an additional 15% purchase of Mindtree stocks from the open market. Further purchase of 31% will take place through an open offer at a price of ₹980 per share. L&T’s open offer purchase was supposed to begin on 14th May 2019 and close on 27th May 2019. However, L&T is yet to get approval on the same from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

L&T purchased stakes of Mindtree from V G Siddhartha for Rs 3,210 crores

V G Siddhartha, founder of Cafe Coffee Day founder held 20.32% shareholding with two of his firms – Coffee Day Enterprises and Coffee Day Trading in Mindtree. He was the largest shareholder in the company.
L&T purchased 20.32% stake of Mindtree from V G Siddhartha through a block deal for about Rs 3,210 crores on 30th April. Post this purchase, L&T also placed an order with brokers in order to pick up another 15% shares of Mindtree.

Shareholding of 25.94%

On 14th May 2019, L&T further acquired 1,168 shares of Mindtree. Mode of the acquisition was through the open market. After this acquisition, the shareholding of L&T in Mindtree stood at 25.94%. This purchase was made at Rs. 972 per share. Shares of Mindtree closed down by 0.13% from the previous closing. The closing of share recorded at Rs. 974.25 on 14th May 2019.

Shareholding of 26.48%

L&T obtained 13,440 shares Mindtree on 17th May 2019 at ₹979.98 per share in order to take over the IT services firm Mindtree. With this purchase, the shareholding of L&T in Mindtree raised from 25.94% to 26.48%. With its stake crossing 26%, L&T is now in a position to demand a board representation in Mindtree.

On 17th May, stock of the Mindtree stock closed up at Rs. 981.80 inching up by 0.16% from the previous closing.

Shareholding of 26.57%

L&T on 21st May 2019 purchased 71,835 shares of Ltd. at Rs. 979.97 apiece. With this acquisition, L&T holds 26.57% stake in Mindtree,
Mindtree’s stock closed at Rs. 980.30 recording increase of 0.03% on the previous closing.

Shareholding of 26.65%

On 22nd May 2019, L&T acquired 1,29,065 shares of Mindtree from the open market. This followed by overall shareholding of L&T in Mindtree reaching to 26.65%. L&T purchased these shares from the open market at Rs. 979.78 per share. Mindtree shares inched up their closing by 0.21% from the previous closing. The stock price stood at Rs.983.50 apiece on 22nd May 2019.

L&T will continue to purchase Mindtree shares from the open market until it acquires 66.32% shareholding in Mindtree making it the first hostile takeover bid in the Indian IT industry. On 29th May, shares of Mindtree closed down at Rs. 980.20 which was 0.21% lower than the previous closing.

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