LIC tenders entire holding in Siemens offer

MUMBAI: Life Insurance Corporation of India, which is the biggest institutional stakeholder in Siemens, had tendered its entire holding of 4.49 crore shares, representing 13.19% in the company, in the open offer by the German parent, sources close to the development told ET.

Siemens’ stake in its Indian arm will increase to 75% as the company has successfully closed an open offer for additional 20% stake. “The open offer was oversubscribed. The acceptance of the shares tendered by shareholders may be around 65-75 %,” a source involved with the open offer said. Siemens did not respond to an email seeking confirmation for this.

The German parent made an open offer at, 930 a share to raise its stake in the Indian subsidiary, The equity offer opened on March 25, and closed on April 13. Siemens’ other key institutional shareholder, HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company, which according to Bombay Stock Exchange data holds over 1% is believed to have tendered part of its holding.

Siemens AG had announced its open offer aimed at consolidating its holding in the subsidiary to expand its operations and investments in India. Equity analysts see the parent’s open offer as a strong signal about the growth outlook for Siemens India.

The German engineering conglomerate aims at accelerating the Indian subsidiary’s growth such that it contributes 5% to its global revenue this year, up from 3% a year ago. The parent has earmarked an investment of, 1,600 crore over the next three years to expand Siemens’ capacity in India.