The Hindu Business Line : Shareholders oppose AstraZeneca's delisting move

IT is not the last word on the matter yet but shareholders of AstraZeneca Pharma India had their small say on Wednesday when they forced a vote on the company's resolution seeking to delist from the three bourses.

The public shareholding in AZPIL stands at 8.14 per cent or 4.06 lakh shares after the Swedish parent Astra Pharmaceuticals AB raised its holding to 91.61 per cent from market purchases and two open offers that it made in 2002. Astra Pharma currently holds 45.8 lakh shares while banks, NRIs and corporate bodies hold the remaining small portion.

Already two separate petitions filed by three shareholders are before the Karnataka and Kerala High Courts challenging the company's move to delist from the NSE, BSE and the Bangalore Stock Exchange.

The company has initiated the exercise of determining the floor price for its offer through reverse book-building as per SEBI guidelines on delisting though the courts would have the last say in the coming months, the Chairman, Mr D.E. Udwadia, said.

Should the offer fail on the offer value, the 1.6 per cent of 80,000 shares held in excess of the mandated 90 per cent would have to be disinvested within six months of the rejection.

The shareholders - who now number some 4,300, down from 11,500 two years ago — also contended that 39 per cent dividend as proposed was far too low especially in its silver jubilee year and put it also to vote.

It has been a chequered past for the company which was until 2001 the joint venture Astra-IDL. The two partners equally held over 25 per cent shares until the IDL stake was bought out at Rs 675 each. For the two open offers of May and October 2002, shareholders were given Rs 375 per share.

New MD: Effective from May 6, AZPIL will have Mr Bhasker Iyer as its new Managing Director in place of Mr Lars Walan, whose three-year tenure has ended.

For the year January-December 2003, the company made a profit before tax of Rs 3.84 crore or a growth of 129 per cent over the previous year. The company is into cardiovascular and respiratory products, oncology and maternal and child health.

More Stories on : Stock Markets | Pharmaceuticals

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

Stories in this Section
BoB to enter stock broking, float subsidiary

Bulls surge ahead

Steel stocks jump on price hike

Neuland Shines on outlook

Mid-cap cement firms rise on Q4 performance

Shareholders oppose AstraZeneca's delisting move

Tata Power: Outlook positive, buy May futures

Rally continues for second day

IL&FS files red herring for IPO