BackTax dept attaches shares held by VG Siddhartha, Coffee Day in Mindtree
The development is likely to impact the potential stake sale by the Cafe Coffee Day founder in MindtreeVG Siddhartha owns around 21% stake in Mindtree
PremiumNew Delhi: The Income-Tax Department has attached a portion of shares held by V.G. Siddhartha and Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd in IT firm Mindtree over a potential tax demand — a development that could impact the potential stake sale by the Cafe Coffee Day founder in the Bengaluru-based company.
Siddhartha, who owns around 21% stake in Mindtree, is said to be in advanced discussions with various entities to sell his shares in the IT company.
In a BSE filing on Saturday, Mindtree informed that the I-T department in Bengaluru issued a "provisional attachment u/s 281B of Income Tax or prohibitory orders Act, 1961 for tax demand likely to be raised by the I-T Department on...shareholders of the company — Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd and V.G. Siddhartha."
It added that the attachment also "prohibited for transfer or charge" of 22.2 lakh equity shares of Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd, and 52.7 lakh shares held by Siddhartha.
The order will be applicable for six months from the date of the order i.e. January 25, 2019, it said.
At the end of December 2018 quarter, Siddhartha held 54.69 lakh shares (3.3% stake) in Mindtree, while Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd had more than 1.74 crore shares (10.63% stake). Another entity, Coffee Day Trading Ltd holds over 1.05 crore shares (6.45%). Mindtree's promoters, which include Subroto Bagchi, Krishnakumar Natarajan, N.S. Parthasarathy and Rostow Ravanan, together hold around 13% stake in the company.
According to reports, Siddhartha is in advanced talks with L&T Infotech (LTI) and private equity firm KKR to sell his stake in the mid-sized IT services firm. Also, there have been speculations that such a sale by Sidhhartha could trigger a hostile takeover at the company, even as the founders are said to be making all-out efforts to counter any such developments.
Both Siddhartha and Mindtree founders have not made any specific comments on the issue so far.
During the third-quarter earnings call recently, the management skirted questions on the speculations, saying it remained committed to delivering growth for the company.
"This is something that is not in our control. Shareholders make their own decisions on when they want to buy, how much they want to buy, when they want to sell etc. It is outside our purview in that sense," Ravanan, who is also the CEO and managing director, had said. "We can make sure that things go right at Mindtree, we take care of people, customers and continue to deliver industry-leading growth, so the stake sale is not something that we have a view on or would like to make a comment."
Mindtree, in the December 2018 quarter, posted a 35.1% rise in consolidated net profit, and 29.7% jump in revenues at ₹1,787.2 crore over the year-ago period. It had also exuded confidence that its January-March numbers will be better than the just-concluded quarter.
Shares of Mindtree closed at ₹885.95 apiece on Friday on the BSE.
Also read: V.G. Siddhartha’s exit puts Mindtree promoters in sell or stay dilemma
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed
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