The stock of United Spirits will remain in focus as there is an air of optimism that SEBI will clear the Diageo open offer soon; the recent clarification on record date adds to the confidence. Every week, on the first working day, SEBI updates the status on offer documents on its Web site. It had twice sought clarifications from United Spirits on the Diageo proposal. According to latest (January 18) status report, the proposal is still "under process".
The UK-based Diageo had on November 9, 2012 agreed to acquire up to 53.4 per cent in United Spirits for Rs 11,166.6 crore. Diageo said it would acquire 27.4 per cent stake for Rs 5,725.4 crore through a combination of share purchase from existing promoters and preferential allotment of shares. It also offered to buy another 26 per cent from public shareholders for Rs 5,441.07 crore through an open offer. Because of this, the open offer that was scheduled to open on January 7 was withdrawn.