Icra shares jump as Moody's announces raising stake

Shares of Icra Ltd surged as much as 20 per cent on the bourses after global rating agency Moody's said it would make an open offer to raise its stake in domestic rating agency.

After market trading hours on Friday, Moody's said it would acquire an additional 26.5 per cent stake in the company through open offer at an open offer price of Rs 2,000 a share.

The offer is being made by Moody's Singapore Pte Ltd, Moody's Investment Company India Private Ltd and Moody's Corporation.

The ratings agency plans to acquire up to 2.65 million shares in Icra, amounting to 26.5 per cent of the company's equity. If the open offer gets full acceptance, the shareholding of Moody's in Icra Ltd would increase to 55 per cent.

Reacting to the development, shares of Icra Ltd opened on a bullish note on Monday at Rs 1,858, on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The stock then gathered further momentum and surged 19.99 per cent to an intra-day high of Rs 1,913 on the bourse.

Similar movement was seen on the National Stock Exchange as well where the stock opened at Rs 1,888, then jumped 19.96 per cent to an intra-day high of Rs 1,905.05 a share.