Bosch ups Mico offer price by 15% to Rs 4600/shr

Robert Bosch GmbH of Germany has raised its open offer price by 15% to Rs 4,600 per share to buy an additional 20% in its India unit Motor Industries (Mico).

A spokesperson for Citigroup, managers to the issue, confirmed this today on the final day for revising the open offer. The offer to buy 6.4 million shares was initially priced at Rs 4,000. It opened on June 20 and will end on July 9.

The open offer price when announced, was more than 20% higher than the average closing Mico share price over the past 1 month and Rs 552 higher than the closing price on April 26, 2007.

Robert Bosch holds 60.55% in Mico and if the open offer sails through its holding will go up to nearly 81%. Robert Bosch will be paying out close to Rs 3,000 crore for this revised open offer.

The German company has said it wants to buy the additional stake in Mico to realise greater operational synergies through closer cooperation and sharing of technology. Shares in Mico ended at Rs 4,685.75 on Tuesday and it is still doubtful if stockholders will be interested in this revised open offer.