L&T to be Mindtree promoter, acquires controlling stake

In one of the major hostile takeovers in corporate India in a long time, L&T has successfully acquired a controlling stake of 51 percent in IT services company Mindtree, sources said. The engineering major will now be the promoter of Mindtree, ousting the dissenting erstwhile promoter founders. Arohi, an Asset management company, is said to have tendered its shares in the open offer today.

L&T’s takeover of Mindtree got off to a rocky start, but Nalanda Capital tendered its shares in open offer after earlier speaking against the offer, giving a fillip to the engineering major’s plans.

Sources with direct knowledge of the matter told CNBC-TV18 that Nalanda Capital had ended the fight and tendered its full holding of 10.6 percent in Mindtree in L&T’s open offer. A clutch of domestic investors in Mindtree is said to have complained to the Securities and Exchange Board of India on Nalanda Capital’s conduct and accused the fund of acting in concert with the promoters of Mindtree.

L&T’s open offer for 31 percent stake in Mindtree at Rs 980/share ends on June 28. So far, 21 percent stake has already been tendered by the investors. L&T had bought 20 percent stake from VG Siddhartha and about 10 percent from the market ahead of the open offer. So far L&T has crossed 51 percent holding in Mindtree.

Mindtree, Nalanda Capital and L&T did not offer a comment on CNBC-TV18’s query.

Source: CNBC-TV 18