Divestment-bound Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) said on Thursday it is not considering reducing its stake in Petronet LNG (PLL) or Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) to prevent a new owner from having to make an open offer to minority investors in both companies.
Current Sebi regulations would require that the acquirer of the state-owned refiner make an open offer to minority shareholders of Petronet LNG and IGL due to its promoter status. However, BPCL is working with the government to exempt a new owner from this requirement.
“BPCL has no intention to pare its stake, in either PLL or IGL,” said N Vijayagopal, Director (Finance), BPCL, adding that such a move would lead to value destruction for both BPCL as well as Petronet LNG and IGL.
