BOC India Ltd announced on Wednesday that it wants to delist its shares from the bourses by acquiring 10.52 per cent of the public shareholding in the company.

Deutsche Equities (managers to the offer) on behalf of BOC Group (promoter/acquirer) along with Linde Holdings Netherlands BV and Linde Finance BV (persons acting in concert) said in a notice to the exchanges that they would buy back 89.75 lakh shares at a floor price of Rs 225.29 a share.

As on September 30, 2010, the promoters held 89.48 per cent stake in the company. In the notice to the exchanges, the company said that upon the promoter shareholding reaching a minimum of 94.74 per cent through the buyback, the company will seek voluntary delisting.

The shares of the company are listed on BSE, NSE and Calcutta Stock Exchange. The shares will be delisted from all three exchanges. The scrip closed down 0.84 per cent at Rs 352.15 on BSE on Wednesday. On January 3, the shares had hit a 52-week high of Rs 366.4.

The bid will open on January 24 and close on January 31. The last date for upward revision or withdrawal of bids is January 28.

The company had announced its intention to delist its shares in June 2010 and had received approval from the board of directors and its shareholders in the same month. In the notice to the exchanges, the company said that votes cast by the shareholders in favour of the delisting were two times more than those against it.

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