Essar’s minority investors appeal to UK and India to protect them
MINORITY investors in Essar Energy have called on the UK and Indian authorities to step in and protect them from the firm’s biggest shareholder, which plans to force the firm off the London stock market.
The Association of British Insurers has written to the business secretary Vince Cable and the Indian high commissioner to complain about the tactics employed by Indian group Essar Global to ensure that Essar Energy delists at 70p per share, compared to its 2010 float price of 420p.
The group has gathered Essar investors holding 8.6 per cent of all shares to consider “all available options to resist” the delisting plan.
The ABI said investors feel “under duress” to accept the hostile offer from Essar Global, which holds 78 per cent of the firm.