OCL in talks with GIC, others for acquiring their 20% stake

New Delhi, Nov 4: OCL on Sunday said it was in talks with financial institutions (FI), including GIC, LIC and others, to persuade them to offload their 20 per cent combined equity under the ongoing buyback issue.

OCL India Ltd, formerly known as Orissa Cement, has announced the buyback for 25 per cent of its total equity, amounting to 18 lakh shares, at a maximum price of Rs 80 per share.

"We are talking to FIs since their participation is crucial for this offer to succeed. GIC and its subsidiaries hold 10 per cent of the company’s equity while the remaining 10 per cent is held by LIC and nationalised banks. Unless they offload in the market, the company will not be able to buy back substantial amount of shares since individual shareholders hold a very small amount of OCL’s
total equity," company officials said.

They said since the issue opened on September 27, the company has been able to buy back less than even 10,000 shares from the open market.

"We are buying at the market price of Rs 51-52 till now, and we think that the FIs are not enthusiastic at this price."

— PTI