Aftek and Lupin shares
manipulated by Ketan says Sebi
New Delhi: According to the interim report released by the
securities and Exchange Board of India on the stockmarket there is prima facie evidence of
manipulation in scrips of Aftek Infosys and Lupin Labs by Ketan Parekh and entities.
The Sebi interim report, while documenting the activities of the prominent accused like
Ketan Parekh, Nirmal Bang, Shankar Sharma, R S Damani, Global Trust Bank, CSFB, also has
several other interesting details to offer.
Sebi says that it has found details of transactions that were manipulative in nature
placed by leading FII broker, J M Morgan Stanley.
The report says the role of J M Morgan Stanley was being examined, and that some of the
transactions could have impacted the decline in scrips being examined.
Another major finding of the report is that the exchange surveillance mechanism could not
properly detect excessive concentrations in the market.
Another angle that Sebi is examining is whether some entities introduced by Palombe
Securities,(a link between Shankar Sharma and Nirmal Bang) for trading through Consortium
Finance and Nirmal Bang, were actually front entities for other market operators.
Sebi is also probing the role of Delhis largest broking house BLB Securities, on
whom, according to the report, there are indications of manipulative intent to depress
prices.
The report has also found prima facie evidence of a link between Vidyut Investments, a
subsidiary of Ranbaxy, and Ketan Parekh.
The links Sebi is establishing are that the main short seller, Shankar Sharma, acted
through another short seller Nirmal Bang, and not through his own entities. The latter the
Sebi report says acted with the intention of depressing prices and also indulged in
collusive trades. He also had substantial dealings through Consortium Securities of Param
Kalra and also through an unregistered entity named Palombe Securities, which amounts to
market manipulation.
There is further evidence that Shankar Sharma and Nirmal Bang having very heavy net sales
positions in several scrips like Global Tele, Satyam, Zee, RIL and HFCL.
Sharma also pressed naked short sales in Wipro, SSI and Sterlite Optical, which had the
effect of depressing prices.
Shankar Sharma, said to be the king pin of the short selling operation, has been found
guilty of indulging in transactions with the intent of depressing prices of some scrips,
which impacted the market trend.
The report has also indicted Ketan Parekh for manipulating the market and creating an
artificial market in certain key scrips like HFCL, Zee, DSQ Software, Global Tele.
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FII buying lifts Sensex up 8 points
Mumbai: Sentiments on the stock markets rebounded on Tuesday primarily on buying by
the foreign institutional investors.
Sentiments at the opening session were bearish leading to the benchmark of both the
premier bourses, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE),
falling by around 90 points from yesterdays close.
During the days trading,
however, it gained momentum backed by the FII and institutional buying that finally saw
the indices up, although marginally.
The Sensex and S&P CNX Nifty recovered by 157 and 49 points respectively from their
intra-day low levels.
One of the reasons for the speedier recovery in the market after opening weak was
Sebis move to do away with the circuit filters, which appears to have been welcomed
by the market.
The Sensex opened sharply lower by about 90 points at 3480.42 as compared to Mondays
close of 3568.93 and slipped another 60 points downwards at 3420.14 which happened to be
the days lowest level but started picking up soon before the mid-session and touched
the days high of 3579.35 before closing at 3576.96 netting a gain of 8.03 points.
Nifty followed the suit and recovered 49.05 points and closed with a minor gain of 4.50
points at Rs 1145.30. u
Trading volumes at BSE perked up sharply on Tuesday and the exchange registered a turnover
of Rs 1351.16 crore as compared to Mondays turnover of Rs 1015.54 crore. With the
only exception of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), all the top active stocks in the list
were from the new economy sector.
Carrier Aircon was once again in the limelight on back of continuous buying from all
quarters and the stock was locked further in the 16 per cent upper circuit at Rs 85.55,
nearing its open offer price of Rs 100. Sterlite Optical counter also remained volatile
with the stock rising 16 per cent intra-day after losing 8 per cent first at Rs 356.50 and
then closing at Rs 418.40.
Thomas cook, Saw Pipes, ICICI Bank and TVS Suzuki also remained in the limelight with all
these counters registering a gain of more than 8 per cent.
Satyam Computers remained the most active stock value-wise at Rs 198.92 crore with 89.22
lakh shares changing hands ahead of its ADS listing. RIL was second with the counter
clocking a turnover of Rs 138.75 crore and 38.08 lakh shares traded on the BSE. The other
most active counters included Infosys Technologies, Wipro, Global Telesystems and Zee
Telefilms.
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Writ petition filed by shareholder GR open offer
Mumbai: A minority shareholder of German Remedies (GR) has filed a
writ petition with the Bombay High Court urging it to direct the Securities and Exchange
Board of India (Sebi) to make inquiries into the open offer made by acquirer Zydus Cadila.
Zydus Cadila, on April 10, had announced the acquisition of a 27.72 per cent stake in the
Mumbai-based German Remedies (GR) at Rs 650 per share from Asta Medica AG and Heller
Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH.
An open offer to acquire a further 20 per cent shareholding from the public through Recon
Healthcare (Zydus Cadilas wholly-owned subsidiary) at Rs 650 per share was made in
line with the takeover code on April 17.
Sources say that the minority
shareholder has raised the issue, that even though the two other suitors in the fray for
German Remedies Pharmacia and Bristol Myers Squibb had offered higher prices
for the proposed buyout, the deal swung in Cadilas way at Rs 650 per share, backed
by simultaneous offer for the "perpetual rights" to five Asta brands for Rs 52.6
crore.
The five brands in question are
Deriphyllin, Paractol, Ildamen, Xipamid and Beta Xipamid.
Industry sources say that both other contenders in the fray for GR Pharmacia and
Bristol Myers Squibb had offered roughly Rs 850 per share and Rs 800 per share
respectively to the German firms, though an official confirmation could not be obtained.
Though Zydus offer works out to around Rs 875 on a per share basis, the open offer
to the Indian minority shareholders had been made at Rs 650 per share.
Sebi board member Prof JR Varma said
that the market regulator would hear both the complainant (the shareholder who has filed a
complaint) and the acquirer (Zydus Cadila).
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