GHCL: Under Sebi lens

STOCK IN THE NEWS

Gujarat Heavy Chemicals (GHCL) tumbled 16.5 per cent to Rs 148.65 last week after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Wednesday barred certain entities belonging to the promoter group from trading in shares of the company.

The GHCL stock opened at the lower circuit filter on Thursday and Friday, with pending sell orders of over 2 million shares on the BSE and the NSE.

"The large-scale transactions by the Jalco group entities, including promoter group entities, in the shares of GHCL, indicate a concomitant possibility of their dealings in off-the-market transactions. Accordingly, off-the-market transactions in the shares of GHCL were examined and it was observed that the Jalco group entities, including promoter group entities, were executing several off-the-market transactions among themselves," a Sebi order stated.

In February 2007, GHCL had acquired US-based Best Manufacturing for $35 million. Best Manufacturing's annual sales stand at $160 million. Best is a leading manufacturer and distributor of home textiles and related items for the hospitality and the healthcare sectors in the US.