Indal Board To Meet Feb 26, Alcan Officials To Attend

The board of aluminium major Indal will meet on February 26 in Mumbai to discuss Sterlites open offer for a 20 per cent stake in the company. Senior executives of Canadian major Alcan, which holds 34.5 per cent in Indal, are expected to attend the meeting.

The board is expected to assess the situation and decide its response quickly. Before the board meets, executives of both Indal and Sterlite are scheduled to meet the financial institutions, which hold 36 per cent in Indian Aluminium. The financial institutions reportedly want to hear both sides before deciding on the offer.

On Monday, Sterlite Industries had announced a minimum 10 per cent offer for Indal at Rs 90 a share. The offer was criticised by Alcan and Indal, which termed it a distraction, coming as it did just before the end of the financial year.

 

At the request of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, Sterlite has increased the offer to 20 per cent. Alcan has already said it is not interested in selling its stake and does not want Sterlite as a strategic partner.

Investment banking sources said Sterlite would find it difficult to mop up 20 per cent as the actual public shareholding is only around 25 per cent. Even if they get the entire public shareholding, if the financial institutions dont sell, Sterlite would still not be able to control the company, sources added.