BOC India up 2.90% on bidding move by German firm

DALAL STREET SPIKES

BOC India touched an intraday haigh of Rs 186.5 and gained 2.90 per cent to close at Rs 180.70 after Germany's Linde agreed to make an 8.2 billion-pound bid for BOC Group, the UK-based parent of the Indian company. 11.66 lakh shares were traded on the BSE as against average volume of 1.30 lakh shares.

The stock had surged 10.90 per cent to Rs 175.60 on volume of 9.46 lakh shares on the BSE on Tuesday. BOC Plc holds 54.8 per cent in BOC India. Once Linde takes over the BOC Plc stake, it will have to make a mandatory 20 per cent open offer as per the Sebi takeover code.

In India, Linde owns a Baroda-based engineering firm Linde Process Technologies. The takeover process worldwide will be completed by September.

BOC India is among the larger suppliers of industrial gas and it produces a variety of gases for industrial purpose including oxygen, hydrogen and acetylene.

The company derives 75 per cent of its revenues from gases and 23 per cent from its project engineering division.

For the third quarter ended December 2005, the company registered a 48 per cent rise in turnover to Rs 163.31 crore and net profit increased 4.10 per cent to Rs 11.39 crore.