Oracle buys 4% more in i-flex for Rs 394 cr

Oracle Global bought 28.20 lakh shares on the NSE for Rs 1,397.54 a piece.

US business software giant Oracle today scaled up its stake in i-flex solutions by 3.71 per cent.

Oracle Global Mauritius, the arm through which Oracle holds 43.08 per cent stake in the city-based i-flex, purchased this additional stake for a total consideration of Rs 394 crore.

Oracle Global bought 28.20 lakh shares, representing a 3.71 per cent stake, on the National Stock Exchange for Rs 1397.54 a piece.

Post this acquisition, Oracle's holding went up to 46.79 per cent.

Oracle had bought 41 per cent stake in i-flex from OrbiTech Ltd, a Citigroup Venture Capital International, for $ 900 million last year.

Post this acquisition, Oracle Global came out with the mandatory 20 per cent open offer which managed to scoop only 517,375 shares, representing 0.68 per stake.

Industry sources said the Oracle move showed that the company aimed at scaling up its stake in i-flex to 51 per cent.

"After its abortive attempt to jack up its holding through the open offer, it waited for a while as the Sebi rules demand cooling off period. Now, it will slowly raise its holding so that it could have absolute majority in i-flex," they added.

Priced at Rs 882.62 a share, the open offer was not accepted by the shareholders as it was below the market price. The i-flex stock closed at Rs 1395.95 on the NSE, 7.58 per cent higher than yesterday's close.

The stock opened at Rs 1299, reached to the 52-week high of Rs 1405. The i-flex has 7.6 crore equity shares of Rs 5 each.

As on DEcember 31, Oracle had 43.08 per cent stake in i-flex. Mutual funds held 7.16 per cent, FIIs 16.99 per cent, private corporate bodies 4.38 per cent, NRIOCB held 6.59 per cent and the public holding was 20.95 per cent.