The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has filed an appeal against Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT)’s split verdict in the PNB Housing-Carlyle deal case. PNB Housing Finance Limited is currently examining the appeal filed by the market regulator, the company said in a BSE filing on September 2.
PNB Housing said in the regulatory filing: “This is in furtherance of our earlier communications intimation dated July 06, 2021, and August 10, 2021, with respect to the appeal filed by the Company before the Securities Appellate Tribunal against the letter dated June 18, 2021, issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India and pronouncement of order by the Honourable Securities Appellate Tribunal, respectively.”
“It has been brought to our notice that SEBI has filed an appeal (Appeal No CA5052 of 2021) to the Supreme Court of India against the order of SAT. The Company is examining the appeal filed by SEBI,” it added.
Also Read: PNB Housing Finance Vs SEBI: What’s next on the Carlyle deal?
The SAT had last month given a split verdict in the appeal filed by PNB Housing Finance against SEBI over the proposed Rs 4,000 crore investment by Carlyle Group.
In the order, Justice MT Joshi held that SEBI had issued the notification correctly and that the EGM vote cannot go ahead unless the valuation report is also obtained as per the Articles of Association and place it before the general body of shareholders.
However, Justice Tarun Agarwala held that SEBI ought not to have stopped the voting at EGM since the PNB board had approved the issuance of shares as per ICDR and shareholders should have been allowed to vote.
The Rs 4,000 crore deal -- stitched together after majority shareholder Punjab National Bank expressed its inability to infuse funds earlier this year -- that would see investment major Carlyle Group taking control of the lender, was announced on May 31. The capital infusion deal was to be led by an existing investor – United States-based Carlyle Group -- alongside a clutch of other investors, by way of issuing shares and warrants.
In the preferential allotment, PNB Housing Finance shares and warrants were to be issued at a price of Rs 390 apiece, which was lower than the stock price when the deal was announced in May.
The proposed transaction was contested by SEBI over valuation of shares and PNB Housing Finance had moved the tribunal against the regulator's directive passed in June 2021.
(With PTI inputs)
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