ABG may sell 15% in Great Offshore

Private shipbuilding major ABG Shipyard is in talks with global private equity players to sell its entire 15.2% stake in Great Offshore Ltd, a top company official said. The transaction is likely to be sealed within the next six months. "We are in talks with various private equity players to sell our 15.2% holding in Great Offshore. The talks are in the intial stage and may take five-to-six months for closure," ABG Shipyard's chief financial officer Dhananjay Datar said.
Datar, however, did not divulge the identities of the private equity investors the company is negotiating with. ABG Shipyard, through one of its units, Eleventh Land Developers has acquired 57 lakh shares or 15.2% of Great Offshore through an open offer recently. It is understood that the company is waiting forthe right time when it could obtain an appropriate pricing for its shares before offloading them.
Offshore and oilfield services firm, GOL, was the target of a six-month-long takeover battle with shipbuilders ABG Shipyard and Bharati Shipyard slugging it out to acquire the former.
However, late last year ABG exited the race after rival Bharati raised its open offer price to Rs 590 per share as against the Rs 520 for a share quoted by it.