Gkn Open Offer At Rs 55 A Share

GKN Plc of UK today made a public offer to acquire 34.91 per cent stake in its Indian subsidiary GKN Driveshafts (India) Ltd at Rs 55 a share and delist the company from Indian stock exchanges.

The offer follows an agreement between GKN Automotive Gmbh, a subsidiary of GKN Plc, with International Finance Corporation (IFC) to purchase the latter's 14.09 per cent stake in the subsidiary, ICICI Securities Ltd, manager to the offer said in a release here today.

GKN Automotive currently holds 51 per cent in the paid-up capital of the Indian company and with the acquisition of IFC's stake, GKN Group's holding would grow to 65.09 per cent, the release said.

"If as a result of open offer, the public holding in GKN Driveshafts falls to below 10 per cent, steps will be taken to delist it from the stock exchanges," it said.

The open price of Rs 55 a share represents a premium of 47 per cent to the closing price on December 14, the release added.

GKN Driveshafts manufactures velocity joints used in automobile driveline systems.