Ruchi Soya Industries on Tuesday informed bourses that it has rescheduled its board meeting to March 31 to fix the issue price of its ₹4,300 crore follow-on public offer (FPO) after the markets regulator Sebi allowed investors to withdraw their bids till March 30.
"In light of the Sebi letter directing to keep the window for withdrawal open till March 30, 2022, we will like to inform you that the board meeting proposed to be held on March 29, 2022, has been rescheduled, and now it will be held on March 31, 2022, for the purposes of determining the issue price and the anchor investor issue price," Ruchi Soya said in a regulatory filing.
On Monday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) asked bankers of Ruchi Soya to give an option to investors, who participated in the FPO, to withdraw their bids while also cautioning them about the"circulation of an unsolicited SMS" about the share sale.
The widely circulated message stated the following: “Great news for all beloved members of Patanjali Parivar. A good investment opportunity in Patanjali Group. Patanjali Group company – Ruchi Soya Industries has opened the Follow-on Public Offer (FPO) for retail investors. The issue closes on 28th March 2022. This is available in the share band of ₹615-650 per share i.e. discount of about 30% to market price. You can apply for shares through your bank/broker/ASBA/UPI in your Demat account.”
In clarification, Ruchi Soya Industries said that it has come across some messages on social media "speculating" about investment opportunities in the FPO and the company shares being available at discount to the market price. The company claimed the message has not been issued by it or any of its directors, promoters or group companies.
It further said that an FIR has been lodged by the company in Haridwar to investigate these messages under the IT Act and Section 420 of the IPC.
"As directed by Sebi, we wish to bring to the attention of the investors that all bidders (other than anchor investors) have an option to withdraw their bids from March 28, 2022, till March 30, 2022," Ruchi Soya said in the filing. "Investors should further note that bidding in the issue is closed on March 28, 2022, and accordingly no further bids will be accepted in the issue. Any bids, after the bid/issue closure will be rejected," it added.
The FPO, which opened on March 24 and closed on March 28 (Monday), garnered 3.6 times subscriptions. However, the new Sebi order could delay the listing process.
Post the Sebi announcement, subscription numbers came down as investors across categories began to withdraw their bids. The total subscription of Ruchi Soya Industries' FPO declined to 2.58 times from 3.59 times.
The company has already raised ₹1,290 crore from anchor investors ahead of the FPO.
However, most market experts and brokerages were bullish on the FPO before this SMS fiasco and said that investors can subscribe to the FPO with a long-term view since it is available at a significant discount.
“Ruchi Soya has focused on integrating its operations to build a value chain and improve its operational efficiencies. Further, the majority of the debt will be paid from the proceedings of the FPO while the remaining amount will help the company to meet its working capital requirements,” KR Choksey said in a report. It recommends ‘Subscribe’ for the listing and long-term gains for this FPO.
