SAT upholds Sebis order,no relief to Gillette India

The Securities Appellate Tribunal SAT on Wednesday upheld Sebis decision to turn down Gillette Indias plan to bring down its promoter holding to 75 per cent in three stages to meet Sebis minimum public shareholding norm. While Sebi had maintained that the plan was not in line with the spirit of the norms, Gillette had filed an appeal at the tribunal. SAT on in its order said,The impugned order is upheld and the appeal,being bereft of any merit,is hereby dismissed.

With this the interim relief that was granted to Gillette on May 30 is now vacated and Sebi can take action against the company.

We fail to understand as to why Gillette India does not comply with the requirement of 25 per cent of public shareholding by adopting a simple and straight forward approach, said the SAT order.

In its plan Gillette has proposed to first transfer 4 per cent stake of Indian promoters to Pamp;G at 25 per cent premium for giving up control and certain statutory rights. It then planned to terminate the shareholder agreement to be termed public shareholders.

In the final stage,Pamp;G would sell 4.9 per cent through OFS,to bring down promoter holding to 75 per cent.