HCL Infosystems says unaware of stake sale plan

HCLI-LENOVO:HCL Infosystems says unaware of stake sale plan

HCL Infosystems said it was not aware of any plan by its controlling shareholders to sell a stake, after its shares soared on a media report that China's Lenovo was in talks to buy 50.77 percent for about 5 billion rupees.

Shares in HCL Infosystems, which manages computer systems for large organisations mostly in India, rose as much as 27 percent on Tuesday after a report by the Financial Chronicle, which cited unnamed senior Lenovo officials and bankers familiar with the matter.

The company's stock ended the day up 21 percent in a falling Mumbai market, adding $30 million to its market value to reach $175 million. At Monday's close, a 50.8 percent stake in would be worth 4.1 billion rupees.

Lenovo, the world's second-biggest vendor of personal computers, declined to comment on the report. Its shares closed down 1.4 percent.

The Chinese company faces slowing growth in the global PC market. Research firm Gartner has said global PC shipments were flat in the second quarter, while sales in the Indian market grew 17 percent.

As of June 30, its controlling shareholders together held 50.77 percent, according to stock exchange data.

For the quarter ended June 30, HCL Infosystems reported consolidated profit of 20 million rupees, compared with 115 million rupees a year earlier.

HCL Infosystems, which also makes its own branded computers including laptops, desktops and tablets, decided in June to streamline its computer products business into a separate wholly owned subsidiary.

HCL Infosystems had a 5.6 percent share of the Indian PC market in the second quarter of 2012, while Lenovo topped the chart with a 16.6 percent share, followed by Acer <2353.TW>, Hewlett-Packard and Dell , Gartner data showed.

HCL Infosystems is a part of HCL Enterprise, which includes HCL Technologies , India's fourth-largest software services exporter.