Creeping acquisition norms may be reviewed after a year.
Companies planning to delist their shares from the stock exchanges may have to disclose their future plans before such proposals can be considered by the market regulator.
Companies may have to submit their plans on key decisions like strategic tie-ups and capital infusion for six months after delisting. The matter was discussed at the board meeting of the Securities and Exchange Board of India held last week.
The agenda paper of the board meeting was released by the market regulator On Monday.
Delisting regulations were approved by the Sebi board earlier, but the matter came up for discussions again at the board meeting after the regulator received observations sent by the ministry of corporate affairs.
Companies proposing to delist will also have to include a provision for an outer time limit for payment of consideration to shareholders who have accepted the offer, under the simplified procedure for companies where public shareholding or capital itself is Rs 1 crore or less.
In case of BIFR-approved delisting, Sebi has proposed provisions for exemption to enable listing of the de-listed equity shares during the cool-off period, where relisting is recommended by BIFR pursuant to restructuring / change in management, since such exemption no doubt would provide exit opportunity to public shareholders and be generally beneficial.
Listed companies may be granted exemptions from listing of different kind of securities such as, shares without voting rights or warrants issued in combination with non-convertible debentures (NCDs). If approved, listed companies can list shares with differential rights through Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP).
Sebi has proposed conditions that will have to be incorporated in DIP (Disclosures and Investors protection). The offer should be made to all the existing shareholders. Also, the company has complied with the conditions for minimum public shareholding requirement and discloses the share holding pattern of differential voting rights separately. In such cases, exemption can be granted if trading of NCDs and warrants are subject to the minimum trade lot of Rs 1 lakh.
Sebi had recently allowed promoters which are holding below 55 per cent stake in their companies to increase their stake via creeping acquisitions at the rate of 5 per cent per annum till the holding reaches 75 per cent.
In its agenda paper, Sebi said that the issue would be reviewed after one year.
Sebi has already decided to do away with the 70:30 ratio for debt and equity allocations and FIIs with 100 per cent debt investment or 100 per cent equity can be registered. The board also discussed amending the FII regulations in this suitably.
Sebi’s first: Board meeting agenda papers made public
With a view to bringing in greater transparency, Sebi On Monday put out the agenda papers submitted to its board last week. This is the first time that the regulator has conducted this exercise, which is expected to continue. Further, the regulator will also put up the minutes of the meeting on its website once the board approves them.
