L&T raises equity holding in Mindtree to 28.90%

L&T, which started pursuing a hostile takeover of the mid-size IT firm with the acquisition of the 20 per cent equity holding of V G Siddhartha and Cafe Coffee Day, has steadily been raising its holding in Mindtree with an intend to raise its shareholding in the Bengaluru-based firm to 66 per cent.

“This is to inform you that Larsen and Toubro Ltd has acquired 25,000 equity shares (with face value of Rs 10 each) of Mindtree Ltd on June 6, 2019,” L&T said in a regulatory filing. The shares were purchased at Rs 971.03 a piece from the open market. A rough calculation showed that the company spent close to Rs 2.43 crore for these transaction. Following the transaction, the L&T’s holding increased to 28.90 per cent (or 4.74 crore shares) against the previous 28.88 per cent, it said.

L&T raised its stake in Mindtree by about 2 per cent between 20 and 24 May by picking up shares worth over Rs316 crore, according to regulatory data. 

According to BSE data, L&T acquired shares from the open market throughout the week with the highest quantum of shares being purchased on 24 May when it picked up nearly 2.5 million shares of Mindtree at Rs980 apiece. 

With these transactions L&T’s overall shareholding in Mindtree has gone up to 28.45 per cent from 26.48 per cent at the start of the week. 

L&T mounted a hostile takeover bid to take over Mindtree in March by entering into a deal to buy Cafe Coffee Day owner V G Siddhartha’s 20.32 per cent stake in Mindtree and also placed an order with brokers to pick up another 15 per cent of the company shares from the open market.

Once L&T carries out the acquisitions, it is by regulations bound to make an open offer to buy additional stake from the public shareholders. 

In all, the infrastructure major is eyeing up to 66 per cent stake in Mindtree for around Rs10,800 crore.