DHL to delist Blue Dart from bourses
BLUE DART Express Ltd, which was acquired by the Deutsche Post AG through its subsidiary DHL Singapore Pte Ltd last year, has initiated the process of delisting from the Indian stock exchanges, at the behest of its new promoter.
The Blue Dart’s board is to consider the proposal at its meeting scheduled for Thursday. In a notice to stock exchanges on Monday, Blue Dart said the company has received a notification from DHL Express (Singapore) Pte Ltd, to purchase the outstanding publicly held shares of the company, and delist it under the prevailing regulations.
According to the Sebi guidelines, a listed company should maintain a minimum of 25 per cent of public shareholding to remain listed. In this case, the Singapore parent of Blue Dart opted for delisting the companyThe shares of the company closed at Rs 530.40, up 12.97 per cent at the BSE.
Though the deal for DHL acquiring 68 per cent of Blue Dart stake for Rs 566.6 crore was struck in November 2004, it was effected much later in 2005. Each stock was valued at Rs 350 at the time of acquisition.
The acquirer had decided to run Blue Dart as an independent entity instead of merging it with the parent.
The Hindustan Times is provided through HT Syndication, New Delhi.
