Brijendra
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Some minority shareholders of ICICI Securities have filed a class action lawsuit against the company. This case has been filed in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the leadership of investor Manu Rishi Gupta regarding the delisting plan of ICICI Securities. According to sources, more than 100 shareholders are part of this class action lawsuit. Earlier it was reported that shareholders had raised concerns over not following due process, wrong valuation, and attempts to influence shareholders to vote in favor of delisting.
According to minority shareholders, the current valuation of ICICI Securities is based on a report dated June 29, 2023. In a note dated April 10, minority shareholder Quantum Mutual Fund had alleged that the valuation of ICICI Securities was arrived at by comparing the company with its competitors. Based on consensus earnings forecasts for FY2024, the company is valued at 30-77 percent lower than its listed peers. Quantum says that even if competitors take the weakest valuations, the merger offer will be at least 30 percent higher even if competitors take the lowest valuations.
Wrong method adopted for voting in favor of merger scheme
Minority shareholders have also alleged that ICICI Securities used illegal means to get votes in its favor regarding the merger scheme. ICICI Bank allegedly made calls on behalf of ICICI Securities to shareholders to vote in favor of the merger scheme. Manu Rishi Gupta had earlier told Moneycontrol that due to these actions, data of minority shareholders was also compromised as the calls were made by ICICI Bank and not ICICI Securities. This means that the details of the shareholders are shared with the bank.
At a board meeting on March 28, ICICI Securities had revealed that 83.8 percent of institutional investors voted in favor of the merger scheme. In the case of retail investors, only 32 percent of retail shareholders were in favor of delisting.
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