Shares of Hexaware Technologies advanced 5 per cent to quote at Rs 446.70 on the BSE on Tuesday, extending its previous day’s 2 per cent gain, ahead of the closure of its delisting offer today. The stock of the information technology (IT) consulting and software company was trading at its 52-week high price, surpassing previous high of Rs 441.75 hit on August 21, 2020. In the past three months, it has rallied 40 per cent as against 17 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.

The reverse book building (RBB) process of Hexaware Technologies, the first delisting offer by a private equity player in India opened on Wednesday, September 9, 2020. The company has fixed a floor price of Rs 264.97 per equity share for the delisting offer which will close today, September 15, 2020. The last date for announcement of counter offer is September 17, 2020.

In early June, Baring Asia PE, which holds a 186.32 million equity shares or 62.34 per cent stake in Hexaware, announced its intent to delist the company. By delisting, Baring PE is looking to obtain full ownership of Hexaware, which will provide increased operational flexibility to support the business.

According to a Business Standard report, as of Monday, around 58 million shares were tendered by public shareholders in the RBB process — a method used to arrive at an exit price for delisting.

For any delisting bid to be successful, the promoter needs to acquire at least 90 per cent shareholding. Currently, Baring holds 62.3 per cent stake in Hexaware. To take its shareholding past the 90 per cent-mark, it will have to acquire at least 27.6 per cent, or 82.7 million shares, from the public shareholders.

The bids received so far suggest that the delisting price could be Rs 475, 12 per cent higher than Hexaware’s last close of Rs 424, and nearly 80 per cent more than the base price of Rs 265 set by Baring. Most of the large shareholders have placed bids at or below Rs 475, adds the report. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL REPORT

At 12:36 pm, the stock was trading 5 per cent higher at Rs 443.45 on the BSE, as compared to 0.48 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. A combined 3.4 million equity shares had changed hands on the counter on the NSE and BSE till the time of writing of this report.