MUMBAI: In a setback for Ruchi Soya’s Rs 4,300 crore follow on public offer (FPO), capital markets regulator Sebi has directed the book-running lead managers (BRLMs) to give all investors, except anchor book participants, the option of withdrawing their bids because of unsolicited SMSEs advertising the issue. The content of these SMSes “prima facie” appears to be “misleading /fraudulent” and not in consonance with Sebi (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2018, Sebi noted. SBI Caps, Axis Capital and ICICI Securities are the BRLMs to the FPO.
The option for withdrawal will be available from March 28-30. The withdrawal procedure will be informed to the investors and be part of an advertisement to be issued by the BRLMs on March 28 and 29. The FPO ran from March 24-28. The advertisement will caution investors of the circulation of unsolicited SMSes. It will be made in the same size as issued for other statutory ads and in the same newspaper as the issue advertisement.
The BRLMs will also send an SMS to all the applicants of the receiving bids informing them of the additional window of withdrawal, which they can avail of. Stock exchanges and depositories will provide all the information for the completion of Sebi’s direction to the BRLMs.
Ruchi Soya’s FPO was subscribed 3.6 times with the retail portion being subscribed 90% on the closing date of March 28. The FPO of the Patanjali Ayurved–owned Ruchi Soya aims to raise `4300 crore to make it a debt-free company. In 2019, Patanjali acquired Ruchi Soya through the insolvency process for `4325 crore. Ruchi Soya owns brands like Mahakosh, Sunrich and Ruchi Gold.