Jobaaj Stories
Shares of Patanjali Foods, previously named Ruchi Soya, fell over 5% in early trading hours today as exchanges locked the shares of the company's promoters due to non-compliance of shareholding norms.
According to a regulatory filing, a total of 292.58 million shares held by 21 promoters, including Patanjali Ayurved, Patanjali Parivahan, etc., have been frozen by the bourses because the company failed to meet the deadline set for ensuring minimum public shareholding.
According to SEBI regulations, all companies must offer 25% of all stake to the public to ensure promoters do not unfairly benefit at the cost of the public.
When Ruchi Soya had relisted under the ownership of Patanjali, the company had offered a measly 1.1% to the public. To increase the public's stake, an FPO was launched in March 2022 which increased the public holding to 19.18%, but that was not enough.
The company is now required to increase the public's holding by another 5.82% in order to free the promoters' holdings.
The company was quick to react as it released a statement to appease investors. It stated that the freeze would not affect the company's business and that the promoters are looking for means to improve public holding.
However, the statement did not work as investors reacted adversely which led to a decline in the stock price. At the time of reporting, Patanjali Foods was down 4.3% to trade around Rs 922.50 per share.
- Aman Agarwal.
