Astec Life jumps on open offer

Astec Lifesciences is pretty much in the limelight today morning. Opening Rs.10 higher at Rs.250, the stock went on to Rs.262.90 and is now back to Rs.248, still up in the green; some 3% higher. Volumes were up over two times.

The stock is up on the open offer coming from the company, which is a reaction to Godrej Agrovet , the agri-business company of Godrej Industries buying 45.29% stake om the company.

Astec is itself an agrochemicals and pharmaceutical intermediates firm and Godrej is buying the stake from its promotes at Rs.190/share, taking the total cost to Rs.212 crore.

The open offer is to buy 26.05% stake of Astec at a price of Rs.246/share. In case the open offer is fully subscribed, Godrej Agrovet will spend additional Rs.125 crore to comply with the SEBI guidelines. The open offer begins today.