Wellington raises stake in Gitanjali Gems, gets voting rights

The company buys over 2,00,00 lakh Gitanjali shares from open market

In a move that would give it voting rights in Gitanjali Gems, US-based Wellington Management Company has acquired a 0.22 per cent or 202,146 shares in the branded jewellery firm at Rs 65.69 apiece from the open market.

With this, Wellington’s share in Gitanjali stands at 5.04 per cent, a little over the minimum requirement to secure voting right — five per cent.

It had held 4.82 per cent stake in Gitanjali before the acquisition of new shares.

Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Wellington Management is a trusted investment advisor and asset manager to institutions located around the world.

In an announcement to the BSE, Gitanjali said that Wellington would have over 4.6 million shares after the acquisition.

On Wednesday, Gitanjali’s scrip gained a marginal 1.6 per cent to close at Rs 63.65 apiece.

“At this low stock price without any significant change in the company’s fundamentals, many foreign institutional investors have been accumulating stakes. Wellington is one of them,” said Mehul Choksi, managing director.

The share price has fallen a little over 90 per cent since the beginning of this year.

Wellington could not be reached for comments.