SAT has rejected Linde India’s request for a stay on its ongoing valuation exercise. The Tribunal said the valuation exercise can be completed, pending hearing of the current appeal, provided the valuation information is kept confidential.
SEBI had instructed the National Stock Exchange to appoint a registered valuer to assess the company’s business valuation. Accordingly, NSE appointed M.M. Nissim and Co. to carry out the valuation.
The senior advocate for the company argued that since the matter is sub-judice before the Tribunal, there is no urgency warranting immediate valuation exercise. The valuer has sought details from 2016 and such old details are not readily available; that hearing of the main appeal before this Tribunal is scheduled on October 15, 2024 and in the event the appeal is allowed, the entire exercise of valuation would be futile, he said.
He further submitted that the information sought is a ‘price sensitive information’ and the appellant has been called upon to furnish the same to the valuer who is a third party and such UPSI may have serious consequences in the securities market and may potentially impact investors’ confidence.
The senior advocate for SEBI submitted that the valuation report is part of SEBI’s investigation and a fact-finding exercise to decide as to whether shareholders’ approval was needed or not for ‘Related Party Transactions’ involving business allocation among the appellant group entities and therefore, stay on valuation exercise will impeded SEBI’s investigative process.