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Anuradha Desai, chairperson of the Rs 600-crore Venkateshwara Hatcheries Group and chief of Western Hatcheries, has denied rumours that the group's promoters are planning to sell some of their companies.

She was reacting to market rumours that the $4.5 billion US-based Tyson Inc was taking over Western Hatcheries. The share price of the local company has been on the upswing in the last three months _ rising from a 52-week low of Rs 30 to a high of Rs 280 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

In a recent letter addressed to poultry farmers, Desai said, "You might have heard certain rumours in the industry that there is going to be a change in ownership in the VH Group or in some of its companies. We do not know who started these rumours and why. But I would like to inform you that there is absolutely no truth in these. They are perhaps the wishful thinking of someone aimed at disturbing the confidence of the farmers in the VH Group."

 

"I would like to assure you that I and my family are fully committed to the poultry industry, the VH Group and the poultry farmers in India. We are an inseparable part of this industry and we intend to continue to remain in it and serve the farmers for a long, long time," Desai clarified in her letter. When contacted, a spokesperson of the VH Group said Western Hatcheries did not face any takeover threat as the promoters, its associates and poultry farmers held over 51 per cent equity stake in the company. As regards the sharp rise in volumes and the share price of Western Hatcheries, he said the poultry farmers hold around 5 per cent equity in the company and have been the main sellers, particularly when the broiler prices dipped sharply.

The domestic financial institutions are said to have been the main buyers in the current bull run on the scrip. Meanwhile, Western Hatcheries has decided to shelve its plans to go in for a buy-back of its equity shares following the sharp spurt of its stock on both the BSE and the NSE.

"We were contemplating to go in for buy-back when our share price was ridiculously low at Rs 25 to Rs 30 per share. Now that the price has appreciated sharply, the cost of buy-back will be very high and, therefore, our decision," a spokesperson of Western Hatcheries said.