The Hindu Business Line : Almondz merging two group cos

Mumbai, Aug. 7 Financial services group Almondz, as part of its restructuring plans, has merged its unlisted broking firm Almondz Capital Markets Pvt Ltd (ACMPL) with the BSE-listed Almondz Global Securities Ltd (formerly known as Allianz Securities Ltd). The merged entity is proposed to be listed on the NSE.

Through the merger, AGSL will now be able to offer investment banking, retailing of financial products and broking services under a single roof.

The swap ratio for the merger will be one fully paid-up equity share of Almondz Global Securities Ltd (face value of Rs 6) for every three equity shares (face value of Rs 10) held in ACMPL.

Earlier this year, the company had changed its name from Allianz Securities Ltd to Almondz Global Securities Ltd (AGSL).

The board of AGSL has also approved a preferential allotment of 13,50,000 ordinary shares to its holding company Almondz Capital & Management Services Ltd (ACMS) at Rs 80 per share and 1,87,500 ordinary shares at the same price to Bennett, Coleman Group (BCG). Also, the holding company ACMS has made a preferential issue of 2,60,000 ordinary shares to the promoter group and 2,45,900 ordinary shares to Bennett, Coleman Group at Rs 61 per share.

Following the preferential allotment, the promoter group’s shareholding in AGSL will increase to 51.27 per cent while the new shareholder BCG will hold a 1.01 per cent stake. The promoter’s stake in ACMS will increase to 51.02 per cent post the preferential allotment while BCG will hold a 2.46 per cent stake.

AGSL intends to utilise the proceeds of the preferential issue to fund its plans to grow its retail brokerage business. Post the merger the entity will have a network of 19 retail branches.

“The capital infusion will help us to scale up our retail brokerage operations significantly. We intend to give a strategic thrust to all our areas of our business – broking, operations, equity/ debt/ derivative markets research, private client services, wealth management, third party distribution of financial products, etc,” said Mr Vinay Mehta, Managing Director, AGSL. The company is also in talks for a tie up with a growing international financial services provider to help companies raise capital both domestically and internationally, said Mr Mehta. It plans to scale up its employees to over 1,000 in the next 12 months from the current over 400 employees.

AGSL has reported a rise of 35.32 per cent in its net profit at Rs 2.26 crore against 1.67 crore in the corresponding period last year. On Tuesday, the company’s share price closed down 2.99 per cent at Rs 72.95 on the BSE.

More Stories on : Mergers & Acquisitions | Financial Services

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
DBS Chola Infrastructure fund launched

Money market instruments fail to lure diversified equity funds

Deccan Chronicle MD gets shares worth Rs 1,170 cr as gift from promoters

ICI India up on Akzo Nobel bid

Selan Exploration hits roof

Sideways movement

Almondz merging two group cos

Take Solutions IPO subscribed 63 times