Maverick investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has picked up 12.5 lakh shares, or 1.07 per cent stake, in Kolkata-based non-banking finance company Srei Infrastructure Finance for about Rs 8.4 crore in two open market transactions.
The move comes on and after the budget day after the finance minister announced plans to provide banking licences to eligible NBFCs and also provide a thrust to infrastructure development. As per the bulk deal data on the NSE, Jhunjhunwala’s wife Rekha Jhun-jhunwala had picked up 6.25 lakh shares each on Friday and Tuesday at Rs 65.11 and Rs 69.31a share, respectively. The sellers were not known. The shares had closed at Rs 64.50 on Friday, up 2.78 per cent, after the budget. Jhunjhunwala, considered one of India’s most successful stock investors and dubbed by the media as India’s Warren Buffett, is known to make investments in companies in early stage and hold them for long durations. The big bull’s investment in Srei Infrastructure came at a time when the company is planning to merge its unlisted arm Quippo Infrastructure, a deal that has been seen skeptically by some analysts and minority investors. Ever since the announcement of the merger plan on January 28, the Srei stock has fallen 19.08 per cent till February 25, the day before the budget. The shares have gained 10.1 per cent in the last two sessions. The company posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 44.20 crore in the third quarter of financial year 2010 compared with Rs 8.77 crore in the comparable period last year. After the merger announcement, Prudential’s India Infrastructure Equity Open had sold its entire 1.67 per cent stake in Srei on January 29 in the open market for Rs 13.48 crore. “We are happy about Jhunjunwala picking up the stake and this is an endorsement of our future prospects,” Hemant Kanoria, chairman and managing director of Srei Infra, said. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""GLOBAL SPECULATORS"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalspeculators?hl=en.
