46 companies made open offers worth Rs 37,460 cr in first half

Some 46 companies made open offers worth Rs 37,460 crore in the first half of 2013-14 under the Takeover Regulations, the highest in the past several years.

According to Pranav Haldea, Managing Director of Prime, a database on primary capital market, this represents an increase of over 2000 per cent over the same period last year. H1 of 2012-13 had open offers worth only Rs 1,721 crore.

The mega Rs 29,220-crore offer of Unilever PLC for Hindustan Unilever Ltd contributed to 78 per cent of the total offer amount during the first half of the current fiscal.

On the acceptance side, shareholders tendered shares for only Rs 21,038 crore or 56 per cent of the offer amount made (same period last year Rs 578 crore). The HUL offer saw 65 per cent acceptance.