Larsen and Toubro picks up about 98,000 shares of Mindtree, raises stake to 28.87%

New Delhi: Infrastructure major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) on Wednesday acquired about 98,000 shares of Mindtree from the open market, taking its shareholding in the IT services firm to 28.87 percent, according to a regulatory filing. “Larsen and Toubro Ltd has acquired 97,815 equity shares (with a face value of Rs 10 each) of Mindtree Ltd on 29 May, 2019,” a BSE filing by Mindtree said. After the latest transaction, L&T’s shareholding in Mindtree stands at 28.87 percent. The latest stock purchase was made at Rs 980 apiece.

Earlier this month, L&T purchased around 20 percent stake of V G Siddhartha and Cafe Coffee Day in Mindtree through a block deal for about Rs 3,210 crore, and has since topped that up with share purchases from the open market. On Monday, L&T had acquired 2.3 lakh shares of Mindtree, followed by another 3.56 lakh shares on Tuesday from the open market. In the week of 20-24 May, L&T had purchased shares worth over Rs 316 crore. In all, the infrastructure major is eyeing up to 66 percent stake in Mindtree for around Rs 10,800 crore, marking the country’s first-ever hostile takeover bid in the information technology industry. L&T had proposed to buy additional stake in Mindtree through an open offer that was slated to begin on May 14 and close on May 27. However, the open offer has been postponed as the engineering major is yet to get the nod from the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Shares of Mindtree ended almost flat at Rs 980.20 apiece on the BSE on Wednesday.