The stock of AstraZeneca Pharma India, which surged as high as 12 per cent, after the company said it has got shareholders’ approval for voluntary delisting of shares from the stock exchanges, failed to sustain the early gains.

The stock, which surged to ₹1,245, closed at ₹1,135.2, a gain of just 2.3 per cent over Friday’s close on the BSE.

Though 86.53 per cent (of the 15.05 lakh shares polled) of non-promoters approved the delisting proposal, in absolute terms, the number of shareholders who approved the proposal was only 130 against 330, who were not in favour. In terms of percentage, this translates into just 13.47 per cent.

Parent company, Astra Pharmaceuticals AB, Sweden, holds 75 per cent stake in the company.

It may be recalled that last year, AstraZeneca had opted an offer-for-sale to bring down the promoter’s stake to 75 per cent from 90 per cent. Majority of the shares were bought by large FIIs then, who will be key players for the success of the delisting.

This is the third attempt by the company to delist its shares from the Indian bourses. The first was in July 2004, when Swedish pharmaceutical major AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals AB attempted to delist saying its holding in the Indian subsidiary has gone above 90 per cent. It made another offer to exit the exchanges in 2010.

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