Tolani Bulk Carriers is set to become the first shipping company to be delisted from the bourses. This follows Tolani Shipping Company and its promoters acquiring 90.61 per cent stake in the company through an open offer.

Tolani Shipping and its promoters, who held a 68.99 per cent stake in Tolani Bulk Carriers, made an open offer last month for acquiring the balance 31.01 per cent which closed on November 6, 2001.

Tolani Shipping has said in a press statement that it has acquired an additional 21.62 per cent of the equity of the company through the open offer. Under Sebi rules, Tolani Shipping has to come out with a second open offer for acquiring the balance 9.39 per cent at the same price (of Rs 10 per share) at which the first open offer was made.

"We will come out with the second open offer in about a week," said a senior official of Tolani Shipping.

This is the second instance of an open offer for delisting a shipping company. A few years back, the promoters of Shreyas Shipping had tried to delist the company from the bourses through this route. They, however, failed to garner the necessary 90 per cent. This was in fact the first case of a company trying to take this route following the introduction of the Sebi norms.

Prompted by the prevailing low stock prices, a slew of multinationals, including Philips, Otis and Carrier Aircon, have made open offers with the objective of delisting in the last few months. Now some Indian companies appear to be joining the fray.