Why ICICI Bank employees are dialling ICICI Securities shareholders

livemint.com:

MUMBAI : Employees of ICICI Bank reached out to small shareholders of ICICI Securities on the broking unit’s delisting vote that concluded on Tuesday, several investors who received the overtures said. Five shareholders said the ICICI Bank’s branch employees have called and made home visits persuading them not just to vote, but also to vote in favour of delisting. While all five got calls, only one got a home visit.

The callers sometimes even asked for proof of voting in the form of screenshots of a confirmation message received after e-voting, the investors said. In June, the boards of private sector lender ICICI Bank and its broking arm ICICI Securities had approved the delisting of equity shares of ICICI Securities. Investors are proposed to receive 67 shares of ICICI Bank for every 100 shares of ICICI Securities they own.

While ICICI Bank had appointed JM Financial Ltd, ICICI Securities had appointed BofA Securities India Ltd to provide a fairness opinion on the ratio based on the joint valuation report by PwC Business Consulting Services LLP and Ernst & Young Merchant Banking Services LLP. While influential proxy advisory firms IiAS, InGovern and Stakeholders Empowerment Services (SES) whose opinion can sway the voting decisions of large institutional shareholders have greenlighted the resolution, some retail investors are unhappy with the swap ratio. “Last week, someone from ICICI Bank called me asking me to vote in favour of the resolution, telling me that the voting process is going on and I need to vote in favour of the delisting," said Sreenivas K, a 47-year-old engineer from Hyderabad.