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Journalism of Courage
Asian Paints is quietly moving in to buy a stake in ICI Ltd. The three-year old ICI-Asian Paints affair has taken a new turn with the latter submitting financial bid for acquisition of 9.2 per cent of share capital of ICI India Ltd held by Government of India (GoI).
GoI holds 3,760,783 equity shares in ICI representing 9.20 per cent of the issued & paid up share capital and desires to disinvest their shareholding through a competitive bid process. Sources said that apart from Asian Paints, the other bidders in the fray include Imperial Chemical Industries which is the foreign promoter of the company and few institutional investors.
When contacted, Asian Paints officials declined to comment on the issue. However, the company in a notice to the BSE informed that it has submitted financial bid for acquisition of 9.2 per cent of issued and paid-up equity share capital of ICI Ltd held by the Government of India, in response to the notice published by GoI on September 29, 2003, inviting bids for its shareholding in ICI Ltd.
While 9.2 per cent in ICI India Ltd is held by GoI, Imperial Chemical Industries holds 50.83 per cent, institutional investors hold 25.87 per cent while 13.07 per cent is held by public.
Asian Paints is the country’s largest paint company and ranks among the top ten decorative coatings companies in the world with a net sales of Rs 1573 crore. The company also operates in 23 countries across the world. It is also the largest exporter of paints, exporting to over 15 markets in the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa.
In 12 markets it operates through its subsidiary, Berger International Limited and in Egypt through SCIB Chemical SAE.
