Minda Drops Plan To Boost Stake In Pricol; Sells Entire 15.7% Stake

Minda Corporation Ltd. dropped its plan to boost the shareholding in rival Pricol Ltd. and sold its entire 15.7% stake in the automotive components maker for a total of 657.66 crore Indian rupees ($79 million).

The company today sold a little over 1.91 crore Pricol shares on the stock exchange at 343.60 rupees apiece, Minda said in a stock exchange announcement.

Minda, which last year sought the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) approval to acquire up to a 24.5% stake in Pricol, said its equity shareholding in the Coimbatore-based company has become nil following the share sale.

The development comes after the CCI earlier this month said it plans to conduct further inquiry into the matter, as the proposed combination by Minda is likely to result in an appreciable adverse effect on the competition for multiple reasons, according to a stock exchange filing by Pricol.

The antitrust regulator had directed the parties to respond as to why investigation in respect of the proposed combination should not be conducted.

Last year, Pricol had filed a preliminary objection against Minda’s application to the regulator to boost its stake in the company.

Note: $1 = 83.0427 Indian rupees

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