The Hindu Business Line : Temasek arm picks up 6.9 pc stake in Satnam Overseas

THE Singapore-based Temasek Holdings has picked up 6.9 per cent stake in branded basmati rice exporter Satnam Overseas Ltd (SOL) from the open market.

Temasek Holdings' subsidiary Arnada Investment (Mauritius) has purchased these shares. Most of the shares were purchased from the promoters of SOL, who have sold 10.85 per cent stake in the open market.

In an e-mail reply to Business Line, Ms Eva Ho, Director, Corporate Communications, Temasek Holdings (Pte) Ltd, confirmed the acquisition. She said, "We made this investment as we believe Satnam is a promising company in the Indian food industry which has good growth potential."

SOL is a major exporter of basmati rice and sells in more than 45 countries. It has also entered into a contract farming agreement with Punjab Agro Industries Corporation and Escorts Ltd to procure 40,000 tonnes of traditional basmati paddy.

Arnada Investment bought 13.09 lakh shares at Rs 73 each last week on NSE. The total value of the acquisition is slightly more than Rs 9.5 crore. On the same day, promoters sold 20.63 lakh shares (10.85 per cent) on NSE at the same rate. However, the buyer of remaining shares was not known. On Friday, the stock price of SOL closed at Rs 86.55 on NSE.

Other FII, which has large investment in SOL, is Merrill Lynch Capital Markets Espana SA SVB with stake of 5.1 per cent. Promoters' holdings after last week's stake sale will come down to 59.01 per cent from 69.86 per cent held at the end of September 2004.

This is the fourth big investment by Temasek Holdings in Indian listed companies. Earlier it has made investment in ICICI Bank (9 per cent in December 2003), Apollo Hospital (8 per cent in July 2004) and Matrix Laboratories (14 per cent in May 2004)

Temasek Holdings is an Asia investment company and it is committed to maximising long-term shareholder value as an active investor and shareholder of successful enterprises. In the last couple of years, the company has started investing in companies outside Singapore. Other than India, it has started investing in South East Asian countries. Some of its recent investments include Bank Danamon (53 per cent) and Bank Internasional Indonesia (28 per cent) in Indonesia, Hana Bank (10 per cent) in Korea, Telekom Malaysia (5 per cent) and China Power (3 per cent).

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Temasek arm picks up 6.9 pc stake in Satnam Overseas