ICRA hits the ceiling

Rating agency ICRA which had closed at Rs.1594.20 on Friday opened today at Rs.1858 and went on to hit a new high at Rs.1913, which is its 20% upper circuit. Volumes were up over 28 times.

The stock hit the ceiling on the news which came on Friday evening that Moody’s Singapore has made an open offer to acquire 26.50 lakh shares of ICRA, which is 26.5% of the equity at a price of Rs.2000/share. Currently, Moody’s already owns a 28.5% stake in the company.

This open offer will sail through if it manages to garner at least 21.5% stake through the tender process. The offer also hinges on the stock price – if the price soars above the offer price of Rs.2000, most would sell it in the open market rather than tender the shares through the open offer.