UK-based hedge fund Laxey Partners Ltd has sold its 11.63% stake in London-listed Hirco Plc. to Halbis Capital Management (UK) Ltd, an unit of HSBC group, people familiar with the development said.
Laxey sold eight million shares at 95 pence a share in a transaction on 1 July, they said on condition of anonymity.
HSBC, with all its four subsidiaries, holds 9.9% stake in India-focused Hirco. Halbis Capital individually holds 2.15% stake.
In May, Hirco shareholders rejected a move by Laxey to remove its chairman, Niranjan Hiranandani, and two board members at an extraordinary general meeting. The hedge fund, which opposed Hirco’s proposed merger with its holding firms Hirco Developments Pvt. Ltd and Hiranandani Investment Co., had also urged Hirco’s directors to consider naming a new chairman independent of the Hiranandani family.
Laxey said in an emailed response that its exit was over concerns about issues regarding the state of development, valuation and permits involved in the construction of Hirco’s Chennai and Panvel, Maharashtra, projects. Laxey said it believed that the merger of Hirco with the Hiranandani group is still on the anvil and the fund was “uncomfortable” staying invested in the company on those grounds.
Source: Livemint