Thursday, March 12, 2015

Why is Subramanian Swamy silent on SpiceJet?

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has been many things to many people over the years. He has been a politician, a minister, a professor, an anti-corruption crusader and a scam buster. Less than two years ago, he also played the role of an investor activist by voicing the concerns on behalf of the minority investors of Jet Airways.

But, minority investors of SpiceJet might be feeling cold-shouldered by the ever active Swamy. His sharp eye, that has penchant for minutest of regulatory and legal details, seems to have little interest in taking a look at the recent takeover by Ajay Singh.

When Etihad Airways, the Abu Dhabi-based carrier picked a stake and inked a shareholder agreement with Jet’s promoters led by Naresh Goyal in 2013, he wrote to the market regulator seeking an open offer. The Abu Dhabi-based airline in April that year agreed to purchase a 24% stake in Jet for $379 million.  While this was less than the 25 per cent threshold mandated for open offers under the takeover law, Swamy told the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in a letter that the regulator needs to consider the foreign airline and the promoters as persons acting in concert.
11/03/15 N Sundaresha Subramanian/Business Standard
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