The scrip of Alfa Laval India hit a 52-week high on the BSE, on the back of news that the company will delist. The decision, which was taken at the company board meeting on Monday, saw the scrip hitting the upper circuit during the day's trading session.

On the NSE, the scrip ended at Rs 2,345.75, up 19.6 per cent or Rs 385.65. The day's high for the stock was Rs 2,362.95 and the lowest was Rs 2,125.25.

The scrip went up by as much as Rs 392.95 per share, up 20 per cent. It ended the day at Rs 2,351.65 per share, up 19.6 per cent (or Rs 386.80). The scrip hit its 52-week high on Friday as well, when the company put out a notice to the exchanges announcing the board's intentions to delist from the markets.

The notice on the BSE on Monday said that the objective of the delisting was to “obtain full ownership of the company” and “to provide an exit opportunity to the public shareholders of the company.” The delisting offer price would be above the floor price, said the notice. This floor price would be determined and notified later in due course, added the notice.

The delisting proposal, if successful, would then imply that the company is no longer required to maintain a minimum public shareholding of 25 per cent.

The parent company, Alfa Laval Corporate AB Sweden, had sent a letter to Alfa Laval (India) dated September 16 seeking a voluntary delisting of the Indian arm.

The parent company had been increasing its stake in the company since 2001. However, then (in 2001), the company could raise the stake up to 64 per cent only. The original target was 76 per cent.

In 2007, the parent company then managed to increase its stake from 64 per cent to 88.77 per cent, the current holding. The company had offered Rs 1,300 a share at that time to mop-up shares from the Indian public. The Swedish company was then looking at maintaining the statutory limit of less than 90 per cent holding in the company to avoid triggering delisting regulations.

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