HUL shares surge on Unilever's offer to acquire more stake

Shares of Hindustan Unilever Ltd on Tuesday shot up by over 17 per cent, adding Rs 18,550 crore to market cap, after its parent Unilever Plc said it will spend $5.4 billion (over Rs 29,380 crore) to raise stake in HUL to 75 per cent through an open offer.

After surging 20 per cent to 52-week high of Rs 597 in the intra-day trade, the stock of FMCG major finally ended at Rs 583.60, up 17.28 per cent on the BSE.

At the NSE, the scrip settled 17.17 per cent higher at Rs 582.75.

HUL was the best performer among the blue-chips on both Sensex and Nifty indices.

Tracking gains in the stock, the market cap of HUL surged Rs 18,550 crore to Rs 1,26,154 crore.

"The company is now doing well and they have found their growth track in businesses they are in. Investors should tender their shares at the open offer price," Motilal Oswal Financial Services Director & Co Founder Raamdeo Agrawal said.

The Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever Plc said it will spend $5.4 billion (over Rs 29,380 crore) to hike stake in its Indian arm to 75 per cent through an open offer.

Unilever will pay Rs 600 a share in an open offer to raise its stake in HUL to 75 per cent from the current 52.48 per cent, the company said in a filing to the stock exchanges.

The price was 21 per cent higher than the stock's closing price of Rs 497.35 on Monday.

The world's second-largest consumer goods company "is making a voluntary open offer to acquire 48,70,04,772 shares representing 22.52 per cent of the total Voting Share Capital from the public shareholders of Hindustan Unilever Ltd", it said.

The BSE 30-stock index, Sensex, ended at 19,504.18, up 116.68 points.