ICICI Securities shares gain nearly 5% as delisting bid faces test

Under the scheme, the public shareholders of ISec would be allotted 67 shares of ICICI Bank for every 100 shares of the brokerage firm

Shares of ICICI Securities (ISec) rose as much as 5 per cent on Thursday amid reports that key shareholders may oppose its delisting bid. A news report said that the Norway Pension Fund, which holds 3.13 per cent stake in ISec, will cast an ‘against’ vote on the resolution. After hitting Rs 652, shares of ISec finished at Rs 635, up 2.4 per cent over its previous day’s close.

On June 29, the board of the broking and investment banking outfit approved a plan to delist and become a wholly-owned subsidiary of parent ICICI Bank. Under the scheme, the public shareholders of ISec would be allotted 67 shares of ICICI Bank for 100 shares each of the brokerage firm. The company is said to be the first to use a newly-introduced provision in the Securities and Exchange Board of India regulation that grants an exemption from the strict reverse book building process for the delisting of a listed wholly-owned subsidiary.

As per the regulation, the votes cast by public shareholders of the subsidiary in favour of the scheme should be at least two times the number of votes cast against it. Further, the votes by public shareholders of a listed holding company in favour of the scheme should be more than the number of votes cast against it. The public shareholding in ISec is currently 25.17 per cent.