HYDERABAD, Mar 19: Objecting to the takeover attempt by India Cements Ltd (ICL) on Raasi Cement Ltd (RCL) being termed as hostile, the counsel for DSP Merrill Lynch on Thursday pleaded before a division bench of the Andhra Pradesh high court to clarify on the matter as media attention was rivetted on it.Agreeing with C Trivikrama Rao, the counsel for ICL's merchant banker, the two-judge bench felt media interest in the takeover case was of concern and a speedy redressal of the matter was important.
The DSP counsel was interjecting during an argument by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) counsel when he referred to the takeover attempt as hostile because of which the market watchdog would like to give its opinion after careful consideration.
One of the respondents in the case, filed by RCL petitioning for a stay on the takeover bid, SEBI said it would file its response within the three weeks granted by the court.
The arguments, however, in the hearing were inconclusive and will resumeon Friday. Earlier in the day, the court disallowed a request by RCL counsel for more time to prepare the reply to the counter petition filed by ICL defending its action.
The bench wanted to know from the ICL counsel if they could convince the court that ICL could continue with its open offer without the Sebi and centre's prior approval.
Earlier, reacting to the contention by the RCL counsel that centre's approval was mandatory under the Company Law, the ICL counsel maintained that the stage for such an approval had not yet been reached but everything in the takeover bid was as per regulations. The stage to seek such a permission would be reached only after crossing the threshhold 25 per cent equity holding in RCL under sections 108 and 372 of the Companies Act, he argued citing a ruling by the MRTP Commission when RCL had approached the body before taking the case to court.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
