Essar Oil, the oil and gas unit of the Ruias-controlled diversified Essar Group, has received approval from its board for a voluntary delisting offer of the company from Indian bourses by acquisition of 27.53 per cent stake held by public shareholders by the promoters.
It said in a filing to the stock exchanges that Essar Oil received a letter from its London-based promoter company Essar Energy Holdings Limited on June 20 to voluntary delist the company from BSE and NSE by acquiring 137 million equity shares, constituting to 27.53 per cent stake from the public shareholders of the company.
At the current market price the voluntary offer would be worth around Rs 1,560 crore ($260 million).
This is the second time Essar Group, controlled by billionaire brothers, Shashikant and Ravikant Ruia, are planning to delist the company from the two bourses after their failed attempt in 2007. The Ruia family, however, managed to delist another group company Essar Steel Ltd the same year in December.
The company said the group intends to take its entire hydrocarbon/energy business private and this move is in line with the move.
Earlier this month, Essar Energy Holdings had delisted Essar Energy plc from the London Stock Exchange amid protests from minority shareholders and several legal firms.
Essar Oil, India’s second-largest private sector oil refiner, has a fully operational 20 million tonnes per annum refinery.
Shares of the company were quoting at Rs 113.8 per share, up 4.98 per cent from their previous close on the Bombay Stock Exchange in mid-day trades, in a weak Mumbai market on Monday.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
