Mindtree looks at buyback to block Larsen & Toubro's 'hostile takeover' bid

Meanwhile, the board of IT player Mindtree will meet on Wednesday to consider a share buyback programme to avert the hostile takeover bid by the L&T Infotech, said a report of news agecy IANS quoting company sources.

Picture: Subroto Bagchi (Twitter account)

Infrastructure giant Larsen and Toubro Ltd. (L&T) is set to takeover Bengaluru-based IT services firm Mindtree Ltd.

Co-founder and ex-CEO Subroto Bagchi, resigned from his government post to "save the company".

Bagchi said that Mindtree has not been designed as an “asset” to be bought and sold.

Bengaluru: In a dramatic fashion Mindtree co-founder and ex-CEO Subroto Bagchi on Sunday stepped down as the head of Odisha Skill Development Authority to "save" the Bengaluru-based firm from a potential hostile takeover. According to media reports, infrastructure giant Larsen and Toubro (L&T) is set to sign a binding agreement to buy out Cafe Coffee Day founder V.G. Siddhartha's 20.4 per cent stake in the company. Siddhartha has accounted the maximum shares in Mindtree. The reports spoke of a hostile takeover bid by the engineering major, which may make an open offer to increase its stake to 51 per cent in Mindtree. In the wake of the fragile situation, Bagchi said he was returning to the company which he co-founded in 1999 along with  Ashok Soota, Namakal Parthasarathy, Krishnakumar Natarajan and Scott Staples. "An imminent threat of hostile takeover of Mindtree has made me to resign from the Government to be able to go, save the company," Bagchi tweeted.

An imminent threat of hostile takeover of Mindtree has made me to resign from the Government to be able to go, save the company. I must protect the Tree from people who have arrived with bulldozers & saw chains to cut it down so that in its place, they can build a shopping mall.

— Subroto Bagchi (@skilledinodisha) March 17, 2019

"I must protect the Tree from people who have arrived with bulldozers & saw chains to cut it down so that in its place, they can build a shopping mall." Meanwhile, the board of IT player Mindtree will meet on Wednesday to consider a share buyback programme to avert the hostile takeover bid by the L&T Infotech, said a report of news agecy IANS quoting company sources.

Mindtree has not been designed as an “asset” to be bought & sold. It is a national resource. It has a unique culture that humanizes the idea of business. It sets the standards of corporate governance. I need to be there in its time of difficulty. Hence the hard decision to return

— Subroto Bagchi (@skilledinodisha) March 17, 2019

Mindtree shares rose over 2 per cent in early trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday.

Published at : 18 Mar 2019 05:41 PM (IST)

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