Prism Johnson up 10% as board approves divestment of entire stake in RQBE

Shares of Prism Johnson were frozen at 10 per cent upper circuit band of Rs 48.50 on the BSE on Monday after the company informed that its board has approved divestment of its entire holding of 51 per cent in Raheja QBE General Insurance Company (RQBE). 

In a regulatory filing, the company informed that the board has approved divestment of stake to "QORQL Private Limited, a technology company with a majority shareholding of Vijay Shekhar Sharma and remaining held by Paytm (owned by One97 Communications Limited), for an aggregate consideration of Rs 289.68 crore." CLICK TO READ PRESS RELEASE 
 

The consideration to be received by the company for the divestment is subject to certain adjustments which may be carried out between the date of execution of the definitive agreement and closure of the sale, and other customary terms for a sale of such nature, Prism Johnson further said. 

In a separate filing, the company informed that it has increased its shareholding in Sanskar Ceramics. The company said it has "agreed to acquire 35,00,000 equity shares at a price of Rs 37 each aggregating to Rs 12.95 crore, constituting 35 per cent in the total paid-up equity share capital of Sanskar Ceramics."

At present, Prism Johnson holds 15 per cent of the paid-up equity share capital in Sanskar. Subsequent to the aforesaid investment, the shareholding of the company in Sanskar would increase to 50 per cent, it said. 

For the March quarter of the fiscal year 2019-20 (FY20), Prism Johnson had reported a net loss of Rs 30.75 crore as against a net profit of Rs 41.85 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. Sales for the period declined 15.58 per cent to Rs 1463.15 crore as against Rs 1733.08 crore in the year-ago period.