L&T buys 1,168 shares of Mindtree, overall holding reaches 25.94 %

L&T acquired the shares from the open market in what is being called the first ever hostile takeover in the IT industry

Infrastructure major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has acquired 1,168 shares of Mindtree from the open market, taking its overall holding in the mid-sized IT company to 25.94 per cent, according to a regulatory filing.

"Larsen and Toubro Ltd has acquired 1,168 equity shares (with face value of Rs 10 each) of Mindtree Ltd on May 14, 2019," the company said in a filing.

The mode of the acquisition was open market purchases and L&T's holding after the said purchase stood at 25.94 per cent. The latest stock purchase was made at Rs 972 apiece.

Earlier this month, L&T had purchased around 20 per cent stake of V G Siddhartha and Coffee Day in Mindtree through a block deal for about Rs 3,210 crore, and has since topped that up with share purchases from the open market.

On May 9, L&T had announced the acquisition of an additional 2 per cent stake in Mindtree.

In all, the infrastructure major is eyeing up to 66 per cent stake in Mindtree for around Rs 10,800 crore -- marking the country's first-ever hostile takeover bid in the IT industry.

L&T had proposed to buy additional stake in Mindtree through an open offer that was slated to begin on May 14 and close on May 27.

However, the open offer seems to have been postponed as the engineering major is yet to get a nod on the same from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Reports suggest that the offer could be delayed by a fortnight. Emails sent to L&T on the issue did not elicit a response.

Shares of Mindtree ended at Rs 974.25 apiece on the BSE on Tuesday, 0.13 per cent lower than the previous closing.