Just Dial soars 9% as board approves buyback at Rs 700/ sh via tender offer

The board has approved the proposal for buyback of up to 3.14 million shares, representing 4.84% of the total equity capital of the company, at a maximum price of Rs 700 per share

Shares of Just Dial moved 9 per cent higher in the intra-day trade to Rs 425, on the BSE on Thursday after its board approved buyback of shares at Rs 700 per share via tender offer.

“The board today approved the proposal for buyback of up to 3.14 million equity shares, representing 4.84 per cent of the total paid-up equity share capital of the company, at a maximum price of Rs 700 per share, for an aggregate maximum amount of up to Rs 220 crore through the tender offer route,” Just Dial said in an exchange filing.

Since Monday, April 24, the stock has rallied 29 per cent at the bourses, after the company informed the exchanges that board will meet on Thursday, April 30, 2020 to consider and approve the proposal for buyback of fully paid-up equity shares of the Company. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 8 per cent during the same period.

As on December 2019, the promoters held 32.95 stakes in Just Dial. Foreign portfolio investors held 49.94 per cent stake, followed by mutual funds (9.67 per cent) and individual shareholders (5.45 per cent), the shareholding pattern data shows. The company has not disclosed March 2020 shareholding pattern so far.

At 12:21 pm, Just Dial was trading 7 per cent higher at Rs 417 on the BSE, as against a 3.5 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. A combined around 5.2 million shares have changed hands on the counter on the NSE and BSE till the time of writing of this report.