Ashok Leyland picks 3.62% stake in Hinduja Leyland Finance for Rs 202 cr

It may be noted that Ashok Leyland decided to acquire 9% stake in HLFL as against its original plan to acquire 19%

Ashok Leyland has acquired a 3.62 per cent stake in Hinduja Leyland Finance Ltd (HLFL), a subsidiary of the company, for Rs 202 crore. Following the acquistion, the company's shareholding has increased to 65.45 per cent.

The acquisition is part of the 6.99 per cent stake purchase approved by the Board at the meeting held on March 21.

The commercial vehicle major today informed exchange that the Company has acquired 1,70,17,995 shares of Rs 10 each, constituting 3.62 per cent of the paid-up equity share capital of Hinduja Leyland Finance Limited for Rs 119 per share.

Ashok Leyland had decided to acquire nine per cent stake in Hinduja Leyland Finance as against its original plan to acquire of 19 per cent. The company was planning to invest around Rs 1,200 crore which dropped later to Rs 390.49 crore.

After considering the feedback on the proposal from minority stakeholders, it was decided to limit the acquisition of shares by Ashok Leyland to 6.99 per cent of HLFL's paid-up capital at a price of Rs 119 a share, aggregating to Rs 390.49 crore from Everfin Holdings and Hinduja Group.

The Board continues to believe that the proposal to raise the shareholding in HLFL was consistent with the philosophy to prevent any future dilution based on HLFL's growth plans.

HLFL's profit in 2018-19 was Rs 275.64 crore as compared to Rs 182.04 crore in 2017-18. Revenue rose to Rs 2,560.64 crore as compared to Rs 1,961.27 crore.