Pegasus moves SAT over open offer for Federal-Mogul Goetze
Pegasus Holdings, an investment entity affiliated with New York-based Apollo Global Management, has approached the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT), challenging a direction of the market regulator regarding its open offer to Federal-Mogul Goetze (India) shareholders.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India had appointed MM Nissim & Co as an independent valuer to assess the fair value of Federal-Mogul shares.
Pegasus Holdings made the open offer in February last year to acquire 25.02% of the stake in Federal-Mogul Goetze at ₹275 per share, or up to ₹382.8 crore in total. The open offer was triggered by the merger between Pegasus Merger Co and Tenneco Inc, the then holding company of Federal-Mogul Goetze (India).
According to market participants, shareholders approached Sebi several times over the open offer price that they were not happy about.
Early this month, Sebi appointed the independent valuer to determine the fair value.
Emails sent to Pegasus Holdings and BofA Securities, the banker to the open offer, did not elicit any response till press time Sunday.
Shares of Federal-Mogul, which rallied 44% in the last one year, ended at ₹422.50 on the NSE Friday.
The company, in a regulatory disclosure, said it had received a letter dated September 8, 2023, from Pegasus Holdings mentioning that the market regulator had appointed MM Nissim & Co as an independent chartered accountant for the valuation of its shares for the purposes of the open offer. The disclosure also said the acquirer had filed an appeal against the directions of Sebi with the SAT on September 8.
In February 2022, Tenneco Inc agreed to merge with Pegasus Merger Co, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pegasus Holdings.
