MUMBAI, NOV 5: The three existing promoters of Asian Paints have bought the remaining 4.5 per cent stake of Atul Choksey from Kotak Mahindra for a consideration of Rs 74.42 crore. Kotak sold on spot delivery 18.33 lakh shares at a price of Rs 406 per share today which represents a 6 per cent premium to the closing price of Rs 384 per share of the previous day.With this, the promoters of Asian Paints, the Danis, the Choksis and the Vakils have consolidated their holdings after an aborted bid by ICI of the UK to takeover the blue chip company.In a statement, Kotak Mahindra, which had acquired shares on behalf of ICI of UK from one of the original promoters, Atul Choksey said that the transaction took place today. With today's deal, the stake of the three promoters will reach almost 46 per cent from 41 per cent held earlier.Earlier, when KMFL sent these shares for transfer, the company had refused to transfer them saying that the finance company is holding shares on behalf of its competitors and enactedthe provisions of Benami Transactions Act against KMFL. Since then, the matter was deadlocked untill KMFL sold sold around 4.6 per cent of Asian Paints equity to UTI at Rs 280. Reacting to the news, the Asian Paints scrip hit the upper circuit breaker today. Not ruling out a further acquisition, Asian Paints vice chairman Ashwin Dani said he was comfortable even with a 40% share. ``The promoter's stake of 45% is good for a company with a Rs 1200 crore turnover, but we wanted to remove anxieties expressed by analysts,'' he said.Dani said: "Even without this deal, the promoters were quite comfortable with the equity stake. We are happy that Kotak Mahindra agreed to sell the shares to us, which has further strengthened the promoters' holding." He ruled out the possibility of any equity tie-ups for Asian Paints at a later stage.
