Jyothy to keep Henkel shares in escrow account till open offer

FMCG firm Jyothy Laboratories today said that shares being acquired by it in Chennai-based Henkel India from the latter's German parent will be held in an escrow account till the completion of the open offer formalities.

As part of the deal wherein Jyothy Lab has acquired 50.97% stake in Henkel India from Henkel AG, the acquirer will also make an open offer for buying up to 20% stake from public shareholders.

The company said Henkel AG & Co KGaA has transferred 59,360,203 and have been held in escrow from May 31, 2011 by Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited in trust on behalf of Jyothy.

"The aforesaid equity shares will be released to Jyothy only upon completion of the open offer formalities in accordance with Sebi," Jyothy Laboratories said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Jyothy, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Mape Advisory Advisory Croup Private Limited had entered an escrow agreement dated May 30, 2011.

Jyothy Laboratories has completed acquiring 50.97% stake in Henkel India (HIL), taking its total shareholding in the Chennai-based firm to 65.88%.

This is subsequent to its announcement last month that it would buy out Germany-based Henkel AG & Co's stake in HIL for Rs 118.7 crore.

Post acquisition, Jyothy Lab has total of 7.67 crore shares representing 65.86% stake in Henkel India, the filing added.

The company, which sells fabric wash brand 'Ujala', had earlier bought 14.9% stake in HIL from the Indian promoter Tamilnadu Petroproducts for around Rs 60 crore.

Following the acquisition of majority stake in HIL, Jyothy Lab has announced an open offer for another 20% at an estimated cost of around Rs 96 crore.

The open offer to acquire up to 2.32 crore shares at Rs 41.20 per share would start on June 24 and end on July 14.

If the 20% open offer is fully subscribed, JLL will own 85.87% in Henkel India.

Shares of Jyothy Laboratories closed at Rs 207.45 on the BSE, down 4.38% from the previous close.