Ironwood Investment announces mandatory offer on Abans Finance

 Ironwood Investment Holding (Pvt.) Ltd, a unit of private equity firm Ironwood Capital Partners, yesterday announced a mandatory offer to purchase all the remaining shares of Abans Finance PLC.
The mandatory offer was announced at Rs.25 per share. However, the Abans Finance share is now trading around Rs.35-36 levels.
The move comes in the wake of Ironwood Investments increasing its stake in Abans Finance to 31.89 percent and triggering the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Take-overs and Mergers Code. 
Ironwood recently acquired 10.16 million Abans Finance shares or 15.25 percent for Rs.25 each through a rights issue, increasing its stake in the company to 31.89 percent. Prior to the rights issue, Ironwood held 11.07 million shares or 19.95 percent of Abans Finance.  The rights issue, which raised Rs.277.34 million, was intended to improve AFSL’s future minimum capital adequacy requirements. A market source said that Abans Finance parent Abans PLC, which held 71.60 percent of shares in its subsidiary prior to the rights issue, may not have subscribed to its full allotment of rights, allowing Ironwood to buy extra rights.