Kanwars' holding in Apollo Tyres down 6.5% to 37.34%

The stake held by the Kanwars in the flagship company Apollo Tyres has come down by around 6.5 per cent to 37.34 per cent in the last quarter of FY04.

Neeraj Kanwar, chief operating officer, Apollo Tyres, said that the reduction in promoters holding in the company has been primarily due to a 15 per cent preferential allotment to Compagnie Financiere Michelin, Switzerland, its new joint venture partner.

Neeraj Kanwar had earlier said that the promoters were keen on increasing their stake to absolute majority at 51 per cent and would take the creeping acquisition path. It had fixed 2004-05 as the deadline for acquiring absolute majority.

The promoters holding in Apollo Tyres had reached 43.88 per cent till December 2003, which as a result of preferential allotment once again declined to 37.34 per cent. This means that the company will have to wait for another year "" 2005-06 if it has to garner the required stake for a majority.

The promoters had, however, increased their stake in 2003-04 by around five per cent with the idea of cornering the targeted holding.

At present, the promoters holding in Apollo Tyres are through a few privately held companies such as Neeraj Consultants Ltd. As a result of the preferential allotment, the share of this entity has declined to 4.7 per cent from 5.52 per cent.

Another such entity, Sunrays Properties & Investment Company which held 8.63 per cent saw its holding decline to 7.34 per cent. Constructive Finance Pvt Ltd also witnessed its holding in the last quarter decline to 9.77 per cent from 11.48 per cent.

Sacred Heart Investment Company saw its stake coming down marginally to 1.16 per cent from 1.36. Apollo Finance Ltd has also reduced its holding in the company by around 1 per cent to 6.78 per cent.

Apollo International's holding has declined to 4.37 per cent from 5.37 per cent.