Ruchi Soya has always been one of the companies that have left investors dumbfound and be in the news. The Patanjali Group is one of the largest stakeholders in the company. In 2017-2018, Ruchi Soya declared bankruptcy and went to insolvency court.
According to reports, Ruchi Soya owed banks Rs 9000 crores and the banks wanted their money back. The Patanjali Group saw this as an opportunity and agreed to take over the company for Rs 4000 crores. This was less than 50% of what was owed to the banks. However, the banks reluctantly agreed to this as they would get something rather than nothing.
But there was a twist, Patanjali did not have Rs 4000 crores, it had only Rs 1000 crores. To borrow Rs 3000 crores, Patanjali struck a strange deal with the banks. The banks agreed to take Ruchi Soya shares as collateral. This was touted as one of the most absurd deals ever done. Moreover, retail investors saw their holdings go down.
When Ruchi Soya relisted in the stock markets, it surged more than 9000%! Additionally, going against the rules, Ramdev Baba was urging his followers to buy Ruchi Soya shares as it would make them crorepatis. Another rule states that promoters can own no more than 75% of the company; however, Patanjali owns 99% of the company.
To reduce its stake, it came out with an FPO, a follow-on public offer. During the FPO period, shady SMS was being circulated asking people to Ruchi Soya shares. SEBI had enough of Patanjali and asked for clarification of this SMS.
Patanjali claimed innocence and filed an FIR against the SMS. Nonetheless, SEBI did not buy Patanjali’s innocence and asked them to issue ads in newspapers to caution investors against the SMS.
References: @readingroomindia
Featured image source: BGR India
