FIIs continue selling spree as blue-chips hit all-time lows
Mumbai: The turmoil in the stock markets continued on Wednesday with equities continuing to slip further as FIIs continued to sell in most of top new economy and index stocks.

The BSE sensex opened lower in the morning and slipped further below the 3,600-mark and touched the day's low of 3,545 before closing at 3,593.63, an 18-month low. On the NSE also there was no respite despite being the first day of settlement. S&P CNX Nifty fell by 22 points to close at 1,136.

Dealers said the mood in the market is very bearish and there are no buyers even at such low levels as with some of the blue-chip stocks quoting at their historical lows. Active selling by some of the top US-based FIIs is believed to be the key factor behind the fall.

Another interesting part of Wednesday's trading was that Reliance Industries' stock fell below the indicative buy-back offer price of Rs 303. The scrip had even touched a low of Rs 297 but at these levels some buying lifted the stock and it finally closed at Rs 298.3, a drop of 1.13 per cent from Tuesday close.

The number of index stocks that touched their 52-week lows included ACC, ICICI, L&T, Mahindra & Mahindra and others.
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Takeover artists target Great Eastern subsidiary
Mumbai: In what is likely to set the hostile takeover ball firmly rolling in the country, Delhi-based AH Dalmia group, which is into real estate development, is making an open offer to acquire 45 per cent of the shareholding of publicly listed Gesco. Gesco is the real estate development subsidiary of the Sheth-family controlled Great Eastern Shipping.

Originally the real estate division of Great Eastern and was spun off into an independent company on April 1, 1999.

Renaissance Estates, a AH Dalmia group company, alongwith Mr. Sanjay Bakshi, a person acting in concert, already hold 16.67 lakh equity shares of Gesco, representing 5.8 per cent of the company’s paid-up equity capital of Rs 28.76 crore. The open offer is scheduled to open on November 24,2000.

The open offer is being made at a price of Rs 23 per share, which is about 15 per cent premium to the current market price of around Rs 20. The offer price however represents a substantial premium of 72 per cent to the minimum required offer price of Rs 13.36 a share, being the average of the weekly high and low during the past 26 weeks.

ASK-Raymond James & Associates are managers to the open offer. The acquirers have stated that they believe "the recent stock price of Gesco does not reflect its true intrinsic value" and have announced that they would, on acquisition of a larger stake in Gesco, ask for a change in the control of the company.

The Sheths, the promoters of Gesco have decided to fight the takeover attempt being made by the Dalmias. The company is understood to in consultations with its lawyers to frame a strategy.

Gesco develops and manages real estate, with significant investments in properties in the metros.
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