Mukesh Ambani, chairman of India’s biggest firm, Reliance Industries
(RIL), indicated on Tuesday that an overseas acquisition might be on the cards.
There has been widespread speculation about a possible buy of LyondelBassel, a bankrupt Rotterdam-based petrochemical company. The company would scale up its current businesses and may acquire new ones, Mr Ambani said.
The meeting approved the long-awaited bonus shares and the shareholders were told that their company was poised to grow with increasing oil and gas
assets and the financial strengths to expand businesses. RIL fixed November 27 as the record date for distribution of bonus shares
“Reliance envisages multi-fold growth in the near-term, with a far more widespread global footprint,” Ambani said in his speech, but did not elaborate on his plans.
The company has a current cash balance of Rs 19,421 crore or $4 billion and net debt is less than 21 months of cash flow, he said.
Mr Ambani said that RIL could become debt-free in less than two years. India’s richest man, representing the biggest shareholder family, skipped the usual multi-hour question-answers session, after acrimony among shareholders on allegations that one of them was beaten up by security guards created a din. But in his prepared speech he said the “best of Reliance is yet to come.”
“This is the first time in the history of RIL, that shareholders were unanswered,” said Shailesh Mehta an RIL shareholder who has been attending the annual shareholder meeting for years.
Reliance Industries, with the largest number of shareholders among Indian companies of over 22 lakh, has been one of the most sought-after companies by investors with 25 per cent year-on-year returns for about three decades.
This year, it awarded bonus shares in the ratio of one-for-one as shareholders, mainly retail, were seeking it for years. Many years ago, its founder Dhirubhai Ambani, during a shareholder meet, dramatically called for a board meet to announce bonus shares.
There is no legal obligation on the chairman of a company to answer every shareholder question, say lawyers. RIL shares fell 0.65 per cent or Rs 14 to end at Rs 2133.75 in a flat market.
“In company law, there is no prescription that every question needs to be answered. It’s not illegal for a chairman not to answer shareholders queries. Every item needs to be voted and if 10 per cent of shareholders feel that there is an issue of any mismanagement, they can approach the Company Law Board.” said Akil Hirani, managing partner with Majmudar & Co.
At the time of going to press, Reliance had not responded to a questionnaire on the event.
Anticipating complications, RIL company secretary Vinod Ambani asked shareholders not to raise the gas pricing dispute with Anil Ambani, the estranged brother of Mukesh Ambani, since the matter was before the Supreme Court.
“It’s the chairman’s prerogative on whether to answer queries,” says Sujjain Talwar, partner, of Mumbai-based law firm, Economic Laws Practice.
“If the matters are sub-judice and he has been advised not to answer the queries on a public platform, he need not answer them. But the queries have to be directly related to the items on the agenda of the AGM.”
Source: Economic Times
(RIL), indicated on Tuesday that an overseas acquisition might be on the cards.
There has been widespread speculation about a possible buy of LyondelBassel, a bankrupt Rotterdam-based petrochemical company. The company would scale up its current businesses and may acquire new ones, Mr Ambani said.
The meeting approved the long-awaited bonus shares and the shareholders were told that their company was poised to grow with increasing oil and gas
assets and the financial strengths to expand businesses. RIL fixed November 27 as the record date for distribution of bonus shares
“Reliance envisages multi-fold growth in the near-term, with a far more widespread global footprint,” Ambani said in his speech, but did not elaborate on his plans.
The company has a current cash balance of Rs 19,421 crore or $4 billion and net debt is less than 21 months of cash flow, he said.
Mr Ambani said that RIL could become debt-free in less than two years. India’s richest man, representing the biggest shareholder family, skipped the usual multi-hour question-answers session, after acrimony among shareholders on allegations that one of them was beaten up by security guards created a din. But in his prepared speech he said the “best of Reliance is yet to come.”
“This is the first time in the history of RIL, that shareholders were unanswered,” said Shailesh Mehta an RIL shareholder who has been attending the annual shareholder meeting for years.
Reliance Industries, with the largest number of shareholders among Indian companies of over 22 lakh, has been one of the most sought-after companies by investors with 25 per cent year-on-year returns for about three decades.
This year, it awarded bonus shares in the ratio of one-for-one as shareholders, mainly retail, were seeking it for years. Many years ago, its founder Dhirubhai Ambani, during a shareholder meet, dramatically called for a board meet to announce bonus shares.
There is no legal obligation on the chairman of a company to answer every shareholder question, say lawyers. RIL shares fell 0.65 per cent or Rs 14 to end at Rs 2133.75 in a flat market.
“In company law, there is no prescription that every question needs to be answered. It’s not illegal for a chairman not to answer shareholders queries. Every item needs to be voted and if 10 per cent of shareholders feel that there is an issue of any mismanagement, they can approach the Company Law Board.” said Akil Hirani, managing partner with Majmudar & Co.
At the time of going to press, Reliance had not responded to a questionnaire on the event.
Anticipating complications, RIL company secretary Vinod Ambani asked shareholders not to raise the gas pricing dispute with Anil Ambani, the estranged brother of Mukesh Ambani, since the matter was before the Supreme Court.
“It’s the chairman’s prerogative on whether to answer queries,” says Sujjain Talwar, partner, of Mumbai-based law firm, Economic Laws Practice.
“If the matters are sub-judice and he has been advised not to answer the queries on a public platform, he need not answer them. But the queries have to be directly related to the items on the agenda of the AGM.”
Source: Economic Times
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