NIIT Shares Surge Close To 20% On Proposed Baring PE Deal

Shares of NIIT Ltd gained close to 20 percent in trade on Monday as private equity firm Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) gets into an agreement with the company to purchase approximately 30 percent stake in NIIT Technologies from NIIT Ltd and other promoters.

BPEA will be making this buy at Rs 1,394 per share. The Honk Kong Based private equity firm is looking at about 14.4 million shares of parent company NIIT Ltd and about 4.3 million shares (7.10 percent) held by families of NIIT founders Rajendra Pawar and Vijay Thadani.

Overall, it is looking to acquire a 56 percent stake in NIIT Technologies by making an open offer to the public shareholders at the same price to acquire an additional 26 percent stake.

"In accordance with the Securities and Exchange Board of India regulations, BPEA will make an open offer to the public shareholders of NIIT Technologies to purchase up to 26 percent additional shareholding at a price of Rs 1,394 per share. The aggregate consideration for purchase of shares from promoter entities and the open offer is estimated to be up to approximately Rs 4,890 crores based on ownership of approximately 56 percent stake," NIIT said in a statement.

The deal is subject to approvals from regulators.

Post the announcement, NIIT Ltd share price rose as much as 20 percent to hit a high of Rs 114.50 a share on BSE. Shares of NIIT Tech, on the other hand, were trading more than 2 percent lower on Monday morning at Rs 1,318.80 apiece on BSE.