This refers to the news report “Honda’s exit gives Bain, GIC 15% in Hero Honda Ltd” (March 9). The Securities and Exchange Board of India may not bat an eyelid because an open offer will not be triggered since the economic interests of private equity funds will be less than 15 per cent. One wonders how the Income Tax Department will choose to deal with this closure. It is open knowledge that the agreed price for every share is at a more than 50 per cent discount to the current market price. When an individual buys or sells immovable property at a price below the “floor price”, the Income Tax Department classifies it as an “underhand murky deal” or an “undervalued deal” leading to prosecution. In this case, clearly, the deal has been sealed way below the “market discovered price”. Would action be forthcoming from the Income Tax Department?
Angelo Extross, Pune
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