ABG shipyard has offered 11 percent more than rival Bharati Shipyard for a controlling stake in Great offshore and analysts expect the month-long takeover battle to intensify. ABG on Wednesday bought a 5.2 percent stake in Great Offshore in a series of block

deals at 450 rupees a share valuing the firm at 16.7 billion rupees.
Great Offshore said in a filing to the stock exchange on Thursday ABG
has also raised its offer to the same price. The move is the latest in
a string of counter-bids by the two shipbuilders, which began at 344
rupees by Bharati in June. ABG’s latest offer betters that by Bharati
at 405 rupees a share earlier this month.
“Great Offshore is trading at peak valuation but if you look at it in
isolation from 300 to 450 (rupees) it looks a little too much,” said
Kunal Lakhan, a sector analyst at KR Choksey. “Don’t be surprised if
there are more block deals at higher levels.
Great Offshore, which offers oil rigs and offshore platforms to firms
such as Reliance Industries and Oil and Natural Gas Corp, is caught in
the battle with two private shipbuilders, who are eyeing its strong
assets, customers and cash balance.
“Great Offshore is a rich company. Needless to say, there is so much
interest. And, the price war has been a dream run for the
shareholders,” a dealer with a foreign brokerage said. Bharati acquired
the founder’s stake in Great Offshore in late May when he failed to
repay margin calls on shares, which he had pledged to the shipbuilder.
Bharati then made a public offer at 344 rupees a share for a further 20
percent stake in early June, in line with Indian takeover regulations. 
BLOCK DEALS
However, the battle began in late June when ABG entered with a higher
offer of 375 rupees a share. Bharati responded in early July with a
405-rupee offer after buying shares from a large shareholder at that
price. Bharati now holds 20 percent of Great Offshore and after
Wednesday’s deal ABG owns a little more than 7 percent. Sundaram BNP
Paribas and DSP Blackrock sold their stakes, totalling to 2.7 percent
in Great Offshore at 450 rupees each on Wednesday while ABG Shipyard
bought 3.9 percent at the same price, data on the Bombay Stock Exchange
showed.
ABG bought another 1.3 percent in Great Offshore, data on the National
Stock Exchange showed. Bharati is advised by SBI Capital Markets, a
unit of top lender State Bank of India and ABG is advised by Kotak
Mahindra Capital Co, the former Indian partner of Goldman Sachs and
unit of private lender Kotak Mahindra Bank
A senior ABG official was not available for a comment while two senior
Bharati officials declined to comment. At 12.12 p.m., shares in ABG
Shipyard was up 3.4 percent at 210.05 rupees and Bharati Shipyard was
down 2 percent at 149 rupees in the Mumbai market. Great Offshore,
which has risen 28 percent since June, was up 1.8 percent at 466 rupees.

Source: Reuters

Search to find what you want

• ABG to keep minority stake in Great Offshore

    ABG Shipyard, which earlier this month exited from a bidding war to gain control of Great Offshore, has stated its? intentions to keep its remaining shares in the offshore oilfield services company, writes the Wall Street Journal. ABG and unit Eleventh Land Developers Pvt

• Bharati Shipyard net drops, sales jump, outlook stable

    Bharati Shipyard saw quarterly net profit slip while sales jumped about half as lower government subsidy and higher interest costs pinched profitability, a top official told reporters on Monday. The shipbuilder posted a net profit of 326.85 million rupees in July-September compared with 331.6 million a year ago. Net sales

• ABG Shipyard acquires 15% of workers in offshore –

    Integrated offshore oilfield services provider Great Offshore today said ABG Shipyard has acquired more than 15.23 per cent stake in the company for Rs 294.05 crore through open offer route. ABG Shipyard acquired over 56.54 lakh equity shares, representing 15.23 per cent shareholding in Great Offshore at Rs 520 per

• ABG Shipyard, Great Offshore may revise offer price

    ABG Shipyard may revise the price for buying a controlling stake in Great Offshore after rival Bharati Shipyard upped the offer to Rs 560 per share for the oil rig and offshore services company. “We will react to whatever Bharati has done. We have time at our disposal as (market regulator)

• Bharati Shipyard expects Sebi nod for open offer soon

    On a takeover battle with ABG Shipyard for acquiring control of Great Offshore, Bharati Shipyard said that it was expecting the Sebi approval for the open offer soon. “We have 23.17 per cent stake in Great Offshore

• Bharati Shipyard ups ante in battle for major offshore through the purchase of 3% is

    Private shipbuilder Bharati Shipyard Ltd upped the ante in the battle for Great Offshore Ltd, India’s largest integrated offshore services provider, by picking up an additional 3.01% stake, raising its holding to 22.48% and effectively boosting the open-offer price. The shipbuilder has spent around Rs305 crore on acquiring its 22.48% stake in

• Bharati Shipyard ups ante in battle for major offshore through the purchase of 3% is

    Private shipbuilder Bharati Shipyard Ltd upped the ante in the battle for Great Offshore Ltd, India’s largest integrated offshore services provider, by picking up an additional 3.01% stake, raising its holding to 22.48% and effectively boosting the open-offer price. The shipbuilder has spent around Rs305 crore on acquiring its 22.48% stake in

• ABG Shipyard Receives Approval for large offshore bid

    Private shipbuilder ABG Shipyard Ltd has received regulatory approval for its open offer to buy a controlling stake in offshore services provider Great Offshore, a company official said on Thursday. “We have received approvals for the open offer,” ABG Shipyard Chief Financial Officer Dhananjay Datar told Reuters

• Bharati Shipyard expects to borrow more money

    Private shipbuilder Bharati Shipyard is topping up its war chest in the battle to gain control of Great Offshore, India’s largest  integrated offshore services provider. Bharati, which already has the approval to raise Rs 5,000 crore through various instruments, is planning to seek shareholders’ nod to hike the borrowing limit to Rs

• ABG Shipyard: Vulture Investors circles the prey

    With ABG Shipyard jumping in the fray to acquire Great Offshore, the battle between it and Bharati Shipyard has intensified. As things stand, ABG Shipyard holds a 9% stake in Great Offshore and it has made an open offer to acquire an additional 23.5% stake in the company at Rs

• Great Offshore to raise Rs 1750 cr investments

    Mumbai- based offshore services provider Great Offshore plans to raise funds up to Rs 1,750 crore by issuing securities.

• SEBI Bharati rejects takeover bid for management control

    The takeover battle for Great Offshore has taken a new turn with the market regulator SEBI rejecting Bharati Shipyard’s request for taking management control of the company. Bharati Shipyard will only be allowed to increase its stake, but not to gain management control of Great Offshore, while the rival ABG

• Why the race to bag Great Offshore?

    Two local shipbuilders have been in the race for the past three months to acquire controlling stake in Great Offshore, a Mumbai-based offshore oilfield service firm. A string of offers and counter-offers made by them drove the Great Offshore share price up nearly 100 per cent since June. Last Wednesday,

• Great Offshore: Winner curse for Bharati Shipyard?

    In what is seen as a clever strategy, ABG Shipyard last week struck a deal, made a handsome gain and opted out of the race for Great Offshore. Just a day before the open offer was scheduled to commence, ABG sold its 8.22 per cent stake in Great Offshore at

• Final phase in the battle for the Great Offshore

    The race to acquire Great Offshore appears to have entered into its final lap, with Bharati Shipyard and ABG Shipyard gearing up to make the open offer which has been cleared by the regulator — SEBI. Both parties are expected to begin their offers from December 3, the offers will