HUL surges 17 percent on Unilever's open offer

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Shares in Hindustan Unilever Ltd were up around 17 percent at 12:08 p.m. after parent Unilever Plc, along with Unilever N.V., made an open offer to acquire 22.52 percent of the company at 600 rupees a share, a premium of about 21 percent over Monday's closing price.

The stock rose as much as 20 percent in early trade.

In a deal valued at about $5.4 billion, Unilever also said the offer to buy stake in Hindustan Unilever is expected to begin in June 2013.

The Anglo-Dutch parent currently holds 52.48 percent stake in the company as per Bombay Stock Exchange data.

 

(Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi; Editing by Sunil Nair)