RInfra's Rs 1,263-crore open offer for Pipavav on Dec 2

Under the offer, shares of Pipavav will be acquired up to 19.14 crore at a price of Rs 66 apiece

Reliance Infrastructure on Monday said it would begin the Rs 1,263-crore open offer to acquire additional 26 per cent stake in Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company on December 2.

In March, the Anil Ambani group firm had announced plans to acquire controlling stake in Pipavav Defence for up to Rs 2,082 crore. The open offer, to be made by Reliance Infrastructure along with its wholly-owned subsidiary Reliance Defence Systems Pvt Ltd, would open from December 2 till December 15, according to a regulatory filing.     

Under the offer, they would acquire up to 19.14 crore shares from the public shareholders of Pipavav at a price of Rs 66 apiece. This would value the deal at Rs 1,263.32 crore.

The offer price is at a premium of over 10 per cent compared to Pipavav's closing price of Rs 59.90 apiece on the BSE today.

"As per the agreement with the Promoters of Pipavav Defence, Reliance will acquire from them 13,00,00,000 equity shares representing approximately 18 per cent shareholding in the company at a price of Rs 63 per share, aggregating Rs 819 crore," Reliance Infrastructure said in a statement.

Competition Commission of India (CCI) and the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) have already approved the acquisition together with management control of Pipavav Defence.

In case the open offer fails, Reliance Infra would acquire additional shares from promoters to ensure its shareholding is not less than 25.10 per cent.

Post the deal, existing promoters of Pipavav Defence would continue to retain a minority stake in the company, together with two non-executive board seats, Reliance Infrastructure had said in March.