HUL surges 16 percent on Unilever's open offer

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Shares in Hindustan Unilever Ltd rose as much as 20 percent after parent Unilever Plc, along with Unilever N.V., made an open offer to acquire 22.52 percent of the company at 600 rupees a share, a premium of about 21 percent over Monday's closing price.

In a deal valued at about $5.4 billion, Unilever also said the offer to buy stake in Hindustan Unilever is expected to begin in June 2013.

The Anglo-Dutch parent currently holds 52.48 percent stake in the company as per Bombay Stock Exchange data.

(Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi; Editing by Sunil Nair)