Every undervalued company is being made out to be a sitting duck for corporate prowlers. There are those who have gone to the extent of saying that if there were more raiders to do a Bajoria on other companies it would be a boon to small investors. A bonanza for them could lead to a revival of small investor interest, broadening of the market, return of the wealth effect and eventually a return of demand and revival in the economy. Is the hype justified? To put things in perspective, Arun Bajoria is no challenger to Bombay Dyeing. He has no strategic interest in buying a textile company.

In his case, the only condition that applies is that of getting a good bargain. He has been making noise about wanting a seat on the Bombay-Dyeing board, but at the same time is willing to sell the share at the right price. The truth is Bajoria is best a turnround artist who has built a Rs 1000 crore business empire buying sick companies at bargain prices and reviving them. A trader of jute goods at most with a eagle's eye for opportunistic windfall.

The same punter's instinct is driving his Bombay Dyeing foray. All the melodrama being raked up will only help wrangle a better deal for himself from Wadia. Are small investors going to be reap the fallout of this opportunistic deal-wrangling? Sure, the Bombay Dyeing and BILT scrips have jumped manifold since Bajoria jumped into the battle arena. But encouraging such speculative activity further fuels the greed of ravenous investors.

One has only to spread the word in the stock market that a scrip is great and like a herd of sheep, investors will run and buy it. Punters dump the share and it steadily tanks while the big fish laugh their way to the bank. The most dramatic aspect of the whole Bajoria saga, however, remains the attitude of the old guard. Every time there has been a threat to their existence they have gone running to the government or the regulators either raising the MNC bogey or the swadeshi card or a level-playing field.

This is not to say that the takeover code is without flaws. The fact is that a lot of Indian companies are trading much below their book-values. When a Grasim trades at Rs 170 against value of RS 305, it is extremely tempting to any bargain-hunter. These companies are also sitting on assets like real estate and plant and machinery. But buying a 5-10% stake in a company is very differnet from taking it over. The likes of Bajoria therefore unlikely to topple or buy companies. Should there, however, be serious takers for buyouts, they have every right to walk into a company, sell its non-productive assests, leverage it and get on with business. Its time then to move on with business as punters like Bajoria or a Bhasin, SEBI and the Wadias, Thapars and Arun Bharatram have exhausted their allowance of melodrama.