Alstom, Schneider postpone open offer for Areva T&D

Alstom Holdings and Schneider Electric Group today postponed their open offer to buy a 20 per cent stake in Areva T&D India till further notice.

The open offer was to start on July 22 and close on August 10, Alstom Holdings said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The acquirers had offered to buy over 40 million shares in Areva T&D India at Rs 295.34 a piece. Sources said the decision to postpone the open offer comes in the wake of recommendations made by a SEBI takeover panel that an entity buying a 25 per cent stake in a company needs to make an open offer to the rest of the shareholders to acquire 100 per cent equity in the target company. In January, Alstom Holdings and the Schneider group of companies had entered into a pact whereby the global transmission business of Areva T&D would go to the Alstom group of companies and the distribution business to Schneider group.

By BSE data on the shareholding pattern of the Areva T&D India for the March quarter, Areva T&D Holding SA and other group companies, including Areva T&D SAS and Long & Crawford Ltd, together held 72.18 per cent in the company.

France-based Alstom is engaged in the nuclear power business and the Schneider Electric Group is engaged in manufacturing and trading of industrial, electrical and electronic items. Shares of Areva T&D India today closed at Rs 288.50 on the BSE benchmark Sensex, down 0.35 per cent from the previous close.