Can Mindtree founders fend off L&T takeover bid?

Mindtree founders are making every possible effort to stave off a hostile takeover bid by L&T, which has launched an open offer for 31 per cent company shares after buying 20.32 per cent stake from investor V G Siddhartha. Though the company board has deferred its decision on a buyback plan to thwart the takeover attempt by L&T, action on this front cannot be ruled out. Meanwhile, Subroto Bagchi, one of the promoters of Mindtree, has also made an emotional appeal in a tweet saying that they must protect the “Tree” from people who have arrived with “bulldozers and saw chains” to cut it.

Mindtree, it seems, doesn’t have much option left after deferring the share buyback programme to a future date. As a possible last resort, the company would have to bring in an investor who can take on L&T’s bid that has offered Mindtree Rs 980 per share valuing it at Rs 16,000 crore, according to media report.