Why do acquirers hate mandatory open offers to buy equity?

Why is the open offer of a few hundred crores the biggest obstacle in the way of the acquirer?

Mandatory open offers to buy equity, required to be made to minority shareholders in an acquisition, are emerging as the most hated provision of security laws. Every other acquirer wants to be exempted from the provision.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has been granting case by case exemptions to these takeover code requirements, based on merits, especially in cases of transfer between promoters. In recent years, though, there has been a flurry of exemptions on the pretext of distress.

First, over recent years, the regulator has exempted the central government from open offers for capital infusion in