Heard on the street: IRB Infra up 1.2%

Shares of IRB Infrastructure rose 1.2% on the BSE to Rs 121.65 on Wednesday on buzz that two infrastructure companies may be accumulating its shares in the secondary market.

The upside in the shares was also supported by the company’s financial result and acquisition of a road project announced on Wednesday.

The market was abuzz that Anil Ambani- promoted Reliance Infrastructure and Nikhil Gandhi-promoted SKIL Infrastructure may be buying shares of the company on the bourses aimed at acquiring the company. SKIL and RInfra did not respond to ET’s query.

IRB’s promoter and chairman Virendra Mhaiskar said, “We are not up for sale. There is no truth behind these rumours.” Shares of IRB have plummeted almost 30% since May 2 on news that Mhaiskar is being investigated for possible involvement in a murder case.

The fall in the share price and the recent precedence set by Essel Infra of acquiring a substantial stake in IVRCL via the secondary market may have triggered the buzz of creeping acquisition in IRB, an industry source said.

(Contributed by Rachita Prasad)