Nirma Ltd today said delisting of its equity shares from stock exchanges has been kept in abeyance until further notice from market regulator Sebi,following which its exit offer to shareholders has also been deferred. "On March 30,2011 the Stock Exchanges issued notices that pursuant to the directions from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi),the delisting of the equity shares of the company will be kept in abeyance until further instructions," Nirma said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Since the delisting has been kept in abeyance,the exit window has been deferred,it added. As per Sebi regulations,exit window should be made available to the remaining public shareholders for at least a period of one year from the date of delisting. On April 4,the FMCG firm had made an exit offer to the remaining shareholders to tender their shares till March next year,following its plans to delist from bourses. Trading in the equity shares of Nirma has been discontinued with effect from March 24. In January,the firm had fixed the offer price for acquisition of 3.63 crore outstanding shares held by public at Rs 260 apiece to delist from the stock exchanges. It set February 4 as the deadline for payment to shareholders who have accepted the offer. Post the offer,the promoter group increased the holding in the company to 90.82 per cent. The company had said the shareholders can tender their shares to the acquirers at the final price of Rs 260 per shares during a time period of one year between March 31,2011 and March 30,2012. In December,Nirma had announced it will delist from the bourses. In this regard,the company said it would acquire all the 3.63 crore outstanding shares held by public,amounting to 22.83 per cent of the firm's equity capital. At the given price,the total outgo of the company on acquisition of shares held by the public is estimated at over Rs 940 crore.
