AstraZeneca to delist in India

To complete this process the company will have to shell out approx Rs 700 crore (based on the Monday's close)

AstraZeneca Pharma India said on Monday it would delist from exchanges in the country, as asked by its Swedish promoter AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. The parent, with 75 per cent in the Indian-listed arm, will have to dish out a minimum of Rs 700 crore (based on Monday’s close of Rs 1,110.90 a share on the BSE) to buy the remaining stake.

The announcement sent shares of the company soaring to its 52-week high on Monday on the BSE. Of the company’s total 6.25 million shares, 2.5 million are available to shareholders apart from the promoter’s holding.

AstraZeneca India said its board of directors received an email from the promoter on Saturday “proposing to make a voluntary delisting offer”.

The company will have to buy at least 15 per cent from the open market to complete delisting. Of the remaining 25 per cent (the minimum mandated that should not be held in a listed company), 15.52 is with institutional investors. Experts said AstraZeneca would be able to broker a deal more easily with these, at a much lower price than what delisting would have otherwise cost them.

Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) holds 3.77 per cent in AstraZeneca India, D B International (Asia) 3.15 per cent, Suffolk (Mauritius) 2.85 per cent, BNP Paribas Arbitrage 2.40, Mansfield (Mauritius) 1.73 percent and Merrill Lynch Capital Markets Espana 1.62 per cent.

The company has convened a board meeting on Wednesday to consider the proposal, through which it seeks to delist from the National Stock Exchange, BSE and the Bangalore Stock Exchange.