BT Group sells 14% stake in Tech Mahindra

BT Group sells 14% stake in Tech MahindraBritish telecom firm BT Group Plc on Thursday hacked its stake in Tech Mahindra by 14.1 per cent, from 23.16 per cent to 9.1 per cent.

BT, the largest fixed line telecom firm in Britain, sold its 17.9 million shares in Tech Mahindra to institutional investors at a price of Rs 777.73 a share. The sale raised Rs 1,395 crore for the British firm.

The British firm sold share through a series of open market transactions on the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange. The sale process was managed by global investment bankers Credit Suisse and JP Morgan.

The share sale by BT took Tech Mahindra’s stock down by 5.20 per cent to Rs 792.15 a share on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The stake sale comes as Tech Mahindra and Mahindra Satyam are on their ways to merge.

Tech Mahindra, which provides technology services to several telecoms firms, including BT and AT&T Inc., is majority owned by Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, the leading maker of sports utility vehicles and tractors in India.

Meanwhile, the AAR (Authority of Advance Rulings) has raised questions about corporate law practices of Tech Mahindra. AAR Chairman Justice P K Balasubramanyan described Tech Mahindra’s option arrangement with AT&T prior to its 2006 IPO as ‘circuitous’. He added that the option arrangements were against public interest.