MCF locked at upper circuit

Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers (MCF) has been locked at the 10% upper circuit today at Rs.67.85, a new , all time high.

The stock has hit the roof as the battle for taking over the company has heated up further with Zuari Agro hiking stake in the company from its 10% to 13.5%. This stake hike has obviously been done to thwart any takeover from Deepak Fertilisers. Yesterday, Zuari  bought around 42 lakh shares at Rs 61/share. The company now seems to be caught up in a tug of war with both Deepak as well as Zuari wanting to pick up the company. Deepak is currently much ahead, with its 24.5% stake and there is talk that it might make a negotiated deal with Mallya as a hostile takeover bid might not succeed. At end of FY13, Mallya through his various companies had 22% stake of which 57% is pledged.