Astec Lifesciences, a subsidiary of Godrej Agrovet, which is in the news for the Rs 545-crore open offer made by the Adi and Nadir Godrej family on Wednesday, saw its net loss narrow to Rs 0.97 crore in Q4FY24 versus a Rs 5 crore loss reported in the year-ago period.
The company, which was incorporated in 1994 and is engaged in the manufacturing of agrochemical active ingredients, formulations and intermediate products, disclosed its results on Thursday.
Sales of the company rose 21.09% to Rs 153.75 crore in the quarter under review versus Rs 126.97 crore reported in the year-ago period. The Adi and Nadir Godrej family had made the open offer for 26% stake in the company as part of the family settlement pact that was reached on Tuesday between them and their cousins Jamshyd Godrej and Smita Crishna Godrej.
The open offer, which is to be made at a price of Rs 1,069.75 per share, was triggered as the Adi and Nadir Godej family plan to acquire 20.84% stake in Godrej Industries (GIL) from their cousins. GIL is the holding company of Godrej Agrovet, Godrej Consumer Products and Godrej Properties, all listed entities which will be controlled by the Adi and Nadir Godrej family. Astec Lifesciences is indirectly owned by GIL. The Godrej Industries Group (GIG) will be led by Nadir Group as chairperson. Pirojsha Godrej, Adi’s son, will be the executive vice chairperson of GIG and will succeed Nadir as the chairperson in August 2026.
While shares of Astec Lifesciences erased early gains made on Thursday following the open offer announcement to end trade 4.09% down on the BSE at Rs 1,235 apiece, the company said its chief financial officer K Suryanarayan had stepped down from his position, effective end of business hours on Friday.
An independent director Vijay Khot had also tendered his resignation from the board, effective Thursday.
Nadir Godrej, Tanya Dubash, Nisaba Godrej and Pirojsha Godrej are the acquirers in the open offer. Adi Godrej, Rati Godrej, Karla Bookman, Burjis Godrej, other family members and several family trusts will be persons acting in concert for the acquisition.
