PNB Housing Finance moves SAT against SEBI directive on Carlyle deal
PNB Housing
Finance has filed an appeal with the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT),
challenging SEBI's valuation instructions for the former's Rs 4,000 crore deal
with a consortium led by private equity firm Carlyle. Former HDFC Bank MD and
CEO Aditya Puri, as well as private equity firms General Atlantic and Ares SSG,
are part of the consortium.
PNB Housing
Finance made the notification in a stock exchange filing. The public sector
lender was planning to challenge SEBI's directives to the Securities Appellate
Tribunal (SAT).
The market
regulator temporarily halted the deal in a letter delivered to the public
sector lender last week, claiming that the notification for an EGM
(Extraordinary General Meeting) set for June 22 did not comply with the firm's
articles of association (AOA). The lender was ordered by SEBI to undertake the
valuation based on the firm's articles of association.
The notice
for the Extraordinary General Meeting issued on May 31 is "ultra-vires of
the Articles of Association and shall not be acted upon until the company
undertakes the valuation of shares as prescribed under 19(2) of the AOA, for
the purpose of preferential allotment, from an independent registered valuer as
per the provisions of applicable laws," according to the market regulator.
The Company's Board will examine the report when deciding on the
preferential issue of shares and warrants."
The
high-profile deal has been dogged with controversy. Sebi is looking into
the deal after a proxy advisory firm, SES (Stakeholders Empowerment Services),
founded by former Sebi ED JN Gupta, raised concerns about valuations and
minority shareholder interests in the planned investment by the US private
equity firm.