The Securities and Appellate Tribunal (SAT) heard an appeal from an 80-year-old retail investor CP Tripathi with regard to the open offer in Federal-Mogul Goetze (FMG). There are three different views on the pricing. While the acquirer of FMG, US-based MNC Tenneco, has given an open offer price of ₹400 a share for the company, SEBI has said it should be ₹608.46. But, the shareholders assert that according to Indian peer group valuation, the price should be ₹1,200 a share. SAT has reserved its order in the case, which could be a trendsetter for valuation of Indian companies by MNCs in future in case of takeovers.

“It was surprising how large mutual fund houses including Reliance Mutual Fund, Birla and LIC holding substantial stakes in FMG have been watching the SAT and SEBI proceedings from the sidelines. Had they put their weight behind retail investors on the issue of valuations, the scenario could have been different,” a retail investor, who has been leading others in SAT, said.

A few retail investors had approached SAT in the past few days for allowing them to intervene in the matter. But such a request was not entertained by SAT mainly on the ground that the investors said they wanted to intervene after the appellate tribunal said its order was reserved. Yet, SAT has assured retail investors that it will take a holistic look into the matter, investors who had approached the tribunal told BusinessLine .

The SAT order in the matter is expected soon.

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