Corporate predators may be hovering around the $1.52-billion Peerless General Finance and Investment Co, but a top official of the closely-held company said it is not for sale.
In a rare interview, S K Roy, managing director of Peerless, was unequivocal when he said, We have no intention of selling even one share.
Roy heads the countrys premier private savings organisation that manages nearly 40 million depositors and a corpus of over Rs 6,000 crore.
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Reports had suggested that some international players including JP Morgan and GE Caps were believed to have joined other local companies to acquire Peerless.
But Roy plays it cool. With 70.57 per cent of its equity held by him and his associates, he possibly can. He told India Abroad News Service, I have had no meeting with finance secretary Montek Singh Ahluwalia in the presence of some allegedly potential buyers, as has been reported in a section of media. But then, it is also true - and he admits it - that a company like Peerless, which has become a household name, cannot hope to live without controversy for very long.
Its entire equity is owned by a few parties. It does not have any share that one can just pick up. There is, therefore, no question of anyone acquiring its shares unless he buys it from an existing holder or a holder passes on his shares. Besides Roy and his associates, the other shareholders are Bhagwati Developers (3.39 per cent), R L Gaggar (5.40 per cent), Tuhin Kanti Ghosh (6.81 per cent), Poddar Udyog (6.58 per cent), and Custodian of Enemy Property and others (7.35 per cent).
Roy feels that the reports of take-over moves by some big parties are essentially inspired by interested quarters.
It could be, he said, that some existing shareholders are using these reports as a kind of weather balloon to ascertain the price they might get if they choose to sell their shares now. This is a common corporate practice here, Roy said.(IANS)