New Delhi: Zuari group has purchased more than 42,000 shares in Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd (MCFL) through its recently concluded open offer, raising its stake marginally to 16.47 per cent.
The takeover battle for UB group firm, which is going on for quite some time, had further intensified in September after Deepak Fertilisers raised its open offer price to Rs 93.60 per share.
Soon after, rival Zuari group in association with MCFL'S original promoters UB group, had revised their open offer price to Rs 81.60 per share.
MCFL said in a filing to the BSE on Wednesday that Zuari Group has purchased 42,424 shares equivalent to a 0.04 per cent stake in the company.
Meanwhile, Deepak Fertilisers also raised its stake by about 6 per cent through its own open offer to about 32 per cent.
Both open offers started on October 1 and closed on October 20.
The battle for MCFL between Deepak Fertilisers and Zuari Group was triggered in April 2013 when the latter bought about a 10 per cent stake in MCFL through open market.
Later, Deepak Fertilisers acquired a 24.46 per cent stake in MCFL in one go in July 2013. After this, Zuari group had increased its stake to 16.43 per cent in the same month.
At present, Deepak Fertiliser holds about 32 per cent stake in MCFL, whereas the consortium of Zuari group companies has 16.47 per cent and Vijay Mallya's UB group 21.97 per cent.
Zuari Agro Chemicals had also entered into an agreement this year to use Mangalore Chemicals' facilities for contract production.
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