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Satyam : The Sordid Asatyam Saga

Vedanta de-listing offer price Rs 87.50~Come on Mr Anil Agarwal !

Vedanta de-listing offer price Rs 87.50~Come on Mr Anil Agarwal !

Promoter Group of  Vedanta Ltd has proposed a voluntary de-listing at an indicative offer price of Rs 87.50~are the over 7.3 lakh minority shareholders from Alibag !? …apologies to the people of Alibag

Some would term this as De-listing Duplicity ~ but I would not go that far for you’re a Promoter taking advantage of this Covid-19 crisis caused plunge in Share Prices to de-list at a low price while complying with the SEBI Pricing Formula

Promoter Group Company Vedanta Resources Ltd,London has conveyed to listed Vedanta Ltd that the Promoters  want to buy out minority shareholders of Vedanta Ltd at an indicative price of Rs 87.50 !

Even the Book Value of Vedanta Ltd was Rs 167 at March 31,2019 on a consolidated networth of Rs 62297 crs and Equity of Rs 372 crs of Face Value Rs 1  and rose to Rs 188 on a networth of @ Rs 70000 crs as on December 31,2019

But’s there’s more to this as you move through this blogpost to sense that this is not the first time that the Promoter Family of Brothers Anil & Navin Agarwal  have short changed the minority shareholders in their group companies or for that matter even have other Industrial Groups in their listed companies at the time of de-merger or de-listing

Look at the speed !

  • Tuesday May 12,2020 ~ Vedanta Ltd notifies the BSE & NSE that the Board of Vedanta Ltd has scheduled a Meeting on Monday,May 18,2020 to consider a voluntary de-listing Proposal as they have received a letter from Vedanta Resources Ltd,London offering that the Promoter Group will buy out all the Public Shareholders who hold 169,10,90,351 Equity Shares aggregating to 48.94% of the paid-up equity share capital of the Company. This includes Equity Shares held by the Employee Trust but excludes 6,54,45,052 American Depository Shares against 26,17,80,208 number of underlying Equity Shares. Other than 2,48,23,177 ADS representing 9,92,92,708 equity shares which are held by one of the members of the Promoter Group, the remaining ADS are held by persons who would be considered to be Public Shareholders in the event they chose to convert the ADS into Equity Shares American Depository Shares  issued by the Company. Indicative Price given by them is Rs 87.50 per share.. Should all the outstanding ADS be converted into Equity Shares, the shareholding of the the Promoter Group will be 186,36,18,788 Equity Shares aggregating to 50.14% of the paid-up equity share capital of the Company Public Shareholders will be 185,35,77,851 Equity Shares aggregating to 49.86% of the paid-up equity share capital of the Company. The Meeting will take on record and review the due diligence report of the Merchant Banker in terms of Regulations 8(1A)(ii) and 8(1E) of the Delisting Regulations to approve/ reject the Delisting Proposal after taking into account various factors and the
    Merchant Banker’s due diligence report
  • Wednesday,May 13,2020 ~ Vedanta Ltd notifies the BSE & NSE of the appointment of SBI Capital Markets as the  Merchant Banker to do the due Diligence for the voluntary de-listing proposal    
  • Monday,May 18,2020 ~ Vedanta Ltd’s Board of Directors Meeting to take on record and review SBI Capital Markets due diligence report and accept or reject the voluntary de-listing proposal

What Haste ! ~ stinks of a foregone favourable conclusion in favor of promoters ! ~ this would mean SBI Capital Markets will have to submit it’s due diligence report inside just  five days for the Board to consider on Monday,May 18,2020 !~ Ridiculous ! ~given the constraints of the Covid-19 crisis lockdown how will they accomplish this given the restrictions ~ due diligence goes beyond reviewing just the documentation handed  by the company to them or whats’s available in the public domain ~ reminds me of the time the Deputy Director of the Company Law Board (CLB) had scathingly remarked at a CLB Hearing  in the Satyam & Maytas Properties  Scandal of a decade ago as to how could the leading audit firm E & Y could have done the Property Valuation of Rs 6523 crs in just one day !  You can read this amusing 2009 blogpost of mine here

Why is Rs 87.50 a ridiculously low indicative price to de-list

There are numerous arguments for this but what is most compelling and which amounts to significantly short changing the minority shareholders is the value of  Vedanta Ltd’s holding in listed Hindustan Zinc :

  • Vedanta Ltd   holds 64.92 %  or 274.31 cr shares of the Equity in the listed Hindustan Zinc in which the Government of India holds 29.58% stake
  • Hindustan Zinc closed at @ Rs 193 on BSE today at which Price the Market Capitalisation is @ Rs 81500 crs
  • Thus Vedanta Ltd’s share of this Market Cap is @ Rs 53000 crs which works out to Rs 142 per share of Vedanta Ltd’s Equity of Rs 372 crs of FV Rs 1
  • The Promoter Group holds around half of Vedanta Ltd and thus minority shareholders are entitled to half of Rs 53000 crs that’s Rs 26500  crs
  • By delisting at Rs 87.50  the Promoter Group would be expending just @ Rs 16500 crs for buying out the public shareholding that holds half of Vedanta Ltd
  • Imagine this scenario where they buy out shareholders of Vedanta at Rs 16500 crs and thus own 100% of Vedanta Ltd and thus are full ‘malik’ of the 64.92 % stake held by Vedanta Ltd in Hindustan Zinc that’s worth Rs 53000 Crs of which Rs 26500 crs would have actually belonged to the minority shareholders of Vedanta Ltd ! ~ this is thus a squeeze of Rs 10000  crs
  • Don’t give me this hogwash of holding company haircuts now  because when Promoter is planning to de-list they you need to give the full benefit as per market value too to the minority shareholders.This Rs 53000 crs share of Market Share in Hindustan Zinc works out to Rs 142 per share of Vedanta Ltd  
  • Hindustan Zinc has also just announced an interim dividend of Rs 16.50 per share for FY 20 that’s gone by which would mean Rs 4526 crs will be received by Vedanta Ltd for the 64.92 % stake or 274.31 cr shares it holds in Hindustan Zinc

Segment Performance of Vedanta Ltd for the nine months at December 31,2019 read more

Looooooooong Full House Saturday Equity Mumbai Workshop Sept 14 2019

It was a looooooooong,should have held it over two days,  Full House Equity Workshop in Mumbai on Saturday,September 14,2019 with a whole spectrum of smart participants that made for really invigorating interaction ~they came from Mumbai,Gurgaon & Pune ~ from young upwardly mobile grads & post grads from top ranked Management Institutes in India,UK (London) & USA(Harvard) to ‘ well tuned in’ professionals from the IT ,Consultancy,Broking,Corporate & Banking Sectors to veteran high networth investors . We commenced at 9.30 am & concluded well beyond 7.30 pm ~ 🙂 should have arranged dinner too

Thank you Guys !

Here are a few candid clicks from the Workshop :

The Coverage was expansive & the Interaction from Participants very intelligent & which opened out many threads that we examined with anecdotal support . When analysing a company ,they asked what is “Non Negotiable” &  “How to have Foresight as on Hindsight we are always right”

Really a lot was covered ,some of which is below  :

  • Macros through :
  1. Examining the Equity Table’s four legs of Valuation,Liquidity,Momentum & Sentiment & the Impact of FPI Flows ~ when Valuation,which should be the strongest leg,sometimes takes a back seat as Liquidity or even a lack of it drives the momentum & sentiment
  2.  Not getting Seduced by any Bounce at  Friday closing Sensex 37385 & Nifty 11076 Levels as Caution is strongly indicated by domestic & overseas economy & geo-political headwinds
  3. Negative Interest Rates Era vs the Magic of Compounding in such meltdowns
  4. Sensex & Earnings & Market Cap & low GDP growth Dynamics on Levels & Valuations ~ Past,Present & Forward & why downside risk remains wide open while the upside appears capped for now ~ we referred to 1991/92 abnormally high Sensex PE pre Harshad Mehta Scam exposure & the High PE in 2000 with Ketan Parekh was in action & where the markets were clearing running ahead of fundamentals by huge margins~ we referred to the Sensex PE of just 6 in the late 1980s when VP Singh was the PM 1988~ we covered Mkt Cap/GDP Highs pre Lehman collapse in 2007/8 & the levels now
  5. Fx Reserves  & Exchange Rate Risk &  the Risk of increasing Sovereign Debt as planned by Government ~ How our Rupee has always had a South trajectory,except when it soared from Rs 49 to the US $ to Rs 39 to the US $ creating havoc especially in the Diamond Sector
  6. Why Inversely co-related Gold & US $ are moving up together instead
  7. Turm-Oil & Impact on Fiscal Deficit & Rupee  like last happened in 2007/8( On Saturday at the workshop we were not yet clued in to the Drone Attack on the Oil Refinery in Saudi Arabia that saw Oil Prices dangerously soar 20% in spot) ~ India is hugely dependent on Oil Imports
  8. Interest & Inflation rates
  9. Trump ~ Not sure if he’s a macro or micro factor !
  • Micros through many companies  & sector dynamics covering :
  1. Checklist on how to Smartly & Effectively & thus Quickly Read a voluminous Annual Report
  2. Our Five Steps for Evaluating a Company for Investment
  3. Impact on the Financial Statements in Scenarios like Buy Back,Rights Issues,Fictitious Sales,RBI issuing a divergence on Provisioning for NPAs,non linear jump in Sales Realisations,5 G Spectrum Fees,Permanent Diminution in Investments,Monetising Assets & Depreciation of the Rupee
  4. Quick Brief on Absolute & Relative Valuation & how to prepare a quick Valuation Grid from the Annual Report, Market Price Trends & Shareholding
  5. Why Liquidity more than Profitability is the ‘Circle of Life’  for a Company as viewed through the lens of the Cash Flow Statement dervived from the Balance Sheet & Profit & Loss Ac & that distinguishes operating,financing & investing flows
  6. Corporate Governance Issues on inadequate Disclosure or Non Disclosure, Incorrect & questionable Accounting Treatment & Lack of Transparency &  irresponsible (deliberate?)  Management utterances  that give a leg to Insider Trading & huge Profits through  Derivatives Play
  7. Courage & Conviction Promoter or Institutional recent Buying in Vodafone,Yes Bank,I B Real Estate & Tata Motors & seeing more wealth destruction since in these   
  8. Basis for Disclaimer of Opinion by the Auditor of Reliance Infrastructure & what holds out some hope
  9. Intangibles,Investments & Impairments
  10. Reliance Industries’s Enterprise Value,Revenue Segments Potential,Spin offs of the Jio Telecom Infra into two trusts, Aramco’s 20% stake being negotiated in the Refining,Petroleum Retailing & Petrochemicals Business that should lead to further demerger & reviving & scaling the Gas Exploration Operations
  11. How Defaults & Corporate Governance Issues decimated into or near oblivion Eros,Cox & Kings,ManPasand,Tree House Education,Satyam,Jet Airways,Kingfisher & Talwalkars & is there any hope of operational & share price recovery with Asset values holding out some hope in a few ~ How Clearly the Statutory Auditors & Credit Rating Agencies were negligent or intentionally turned a blind eye in many cases
  12. Huge Potential Outlay of the ‘Nal sey Jal’ Scheme of the Government & the new Jal Shakti Ministry focus that should benefit many companies if the implementation & execution is as noteworthy as the intent
  13. How IndAs 115 continues to affect Bombay Dyeing
  14. How Exchanges continue to accept outright untrue or tepid clarifications from Companies
  15. Reference to Investment Gurus & Living Legends Warren Buffett & Peter Lynch Approaches & Success
  16.  Coverage of a few sectors like Defence, Hydrocarbons,Broking,Telecom,Real Estate,NBFCs,Banks & Automobiles & Disruption that’s in play in many
  17. Consolidation & Capitalisation of PSU Banks & the controversial Acquisition of Laxmi Vilas Bank by I B Housing Finance pending RBI approval
  18. Common Investor Mistakes

The next Equity Workshop is scheduled  pre-Diwali for Saturday ,October 19,2019 & will be announced soon on www.jsalphaa.com & social media

Touched by some warm & constructive feedback from participants :

  • thanks for a lovely interactive session…”
  • “enjoyed your session yday”
  • “it was great to meet again & reskill to be better prepared for opportunities which would arise”
  • “Thanks for being the Enabler,the last few days have been very encouraging”
  • “Cover the Scenarios Exercise more with Investor focus than just on Accounting Impact & take in a few Annual Reports before Lunch”  

😆 & I swear I did not pay for these ones !

  • ” You are very good at what you do,comes naturally to you,with a vastness of the subject to cover you did justice to cover the best you could with your insights and experience of all the treasures of knowledge,you are an encyclopedia of the subject with case studies,which is the best way of teaching, sharing & learning according to me,the various industries that you know of,the processes & the products,the promoters & the pitfalls,the auditors & the audited,you can understand in the readings the stated & the unstated,intention & intended,you truly personify_the integration of intellect with instinct_”   
  • “Whoever missed this one, missed learning a radical way to look at balance sheets. Very practically in a few minutes you can strip away the padding and bullshit that promoters hide their sins behind. If the stock market’s motto or rather rider has always been caveat emptor or buyer beware, Gaurav’s lessons in Analysis would ensure that a “fool and his money are not soon parted” for when emotions like fear and greed coupled with ignorance seize us even the wisest are prone to behave like fools. Especially the wisest!”
  • read more

    Coffee with CEO Meet with IES MBA Students

    IES MBA Meeting 1 IES MBA Meeting 2

    Hosted MBA Finance Students from the IES Management Institute,Mumbai in their ‘Coffee with CEO ‘ Initiative & courtesy Purv Shah,a younger & equally if not more passionate trainer in Capital Markets

    It also happened to be Children’s Day yesterday….always keep the child within alive

    It was a pre lunch session for an hour or two…covered… Insider Trading & Integrity…Chasing Passion & not Paisa…seeking good mentorship & being with fun people,to learn from the best like a sportsperson…to evolve

    …Oh ! & of course how to spot pedigree companies & people …mentioned a few of them to highlight Controversies & Corporate Misgovernance &  when to give a second chance too!…to read & read & read & then again read some more

    …spoke of Richard Branson & his book ‘Screw It ,Just Do it’ that changed my opinion of him to one of respect…how both of us have one thing in common in that he has cheated death several times on his adventure trips while I have too but not out of choice in health issues,Sahara sandstorm,BSE Bomb Blast & a car accident

    ….to trust to grow,to see the best in people,to B+ which also is my blood group which they knew having read me up before coming across….to be decisive & responsible…be curious to expand knowledge…be vibrant…attract people to you,who love being around you….share,not be arrogant,let the E-go

    Reiterated Theory without Application & Academics without Action is pointless….Eugene Fama & his Efficient Market Hypothesis & whether India & Insider Trading are truly Inseparable despite SEBI’s strengthening regulations

    At the start itself posed a question to them ” What did you notice is or is not there in my office?”…a few answers came forth like “No Noise” or “Less Staff” or “Open Glass Cabins”…Yeah all of these but what I was seeking was ” No TV with Stock & News Channels blaring away” & it did come from one eager young gentleman who was promptly rewarded with a gift

    Enjoyed interacting with them & I hope these fine young ladies & gentlemen took away at least one good thing from the meet

     

     

    Wow! A Full House NSE Training Fundamental Workshop !

    Wow! A Full House NSE Training Fundamental Workshop yesterday !

    Seems to get bigger & better every time !

    Did the first one on August 8,2015 and had blogged on it  as linked below

    Interesting Interaction at the NSE Equity Fundamental Training Workshop

    Sunday, August 16th, 2015

    Did this one too on “Interpretation of Financial Statements for Stock Analysis” under NSE’s Rapid Series at their NSE BKC Complex

    @ 30 Participants,both genders aged 22 to 58 from leading Broking Firms,Corporates,Banks and even Individuals who had come on dot and stayed till 8 pm ! expecting to learn how to read financial statements and  market dynamics to assess risks and opportunities in Indian Equities

    Common Question right from Manish Shah,who introduced himself  to me in the lift going up to the Class ” How are the Markets Looking “? ~ “Where will the Sensex & Nifty head in the short term”?

    Had taken a Bull along ! really !…a smaller version of the Wall Street one….told the class I love four animals…Elephants (Lord Ganesha),Lions (My Zodiac Sign),Tortoise(Good Luck & of course Bulls (I’m always one!)….and you’ll always find them on my office desk !…in fact four bulls of various sizes !…and clients know my market view on simply seeing how the bulls are placed !…if facing them straight up  (↑)  as they sit across me,I’m very bullish…if slanted ( ⁄ )towards them,I’m bullish…slant inclination reveals how much !….if a horizontal view (↔ ) then indicates market will remain flat to rangebound and if the bulls face me vertically (↓ ) I’m bearish !….and slant facing me shows intensity of being bearish !

    That got a few knowing laughs from the participants and set off the mood for the Workshop with humour being interspersed right through

    Interacted on the Sensex Dynamics right from base year 1978 and in the last 20 years from November 1,1995 to October 30,2015 when despite nearly half of the @ 4850 trading days saw the Sensex close negatively the Sensex ran up over 650% !…but is that enough!…..the Opportunities & Threats that were clearly visible during the years right from 1991 when Modern Reforms set in to 2001 when Markets had bottomed  out on the ICE Age Melting to the Sharp drop in Interest rates from 14% to 7% in and around 2004 to post Lehman 2008 levels of 8000 in October 2008 and March 2009….showed them from current Sensex of 26657 how to assess fundamentally where we could be heading and the risks associated….discussed Passive Index Investing vs Active Investing and therefore the need for Fundamental Analysis and therefore the need to Interpret Financials & therefore the need to assess Value vs Price  & therefore this Workshop  ! read more

    Financial Technologies @ Rs 144 ~ A Story of Guts and Glory now Guttered !

    Financial Technologies (FTIL)  @ Rs 144 (FV Rs 2)~ A Story of Guts and Glory now Guttered ! ?….though Jignesh Shah ,the Founder Chairman and MD of the FTIL Group (MCX,NSEL and others)states this in his message in the FY 13 Annual Report “….these are tough times the Company is facing and Financial Technologies is making all efforts to come out of such situation” 

    I don’t own any shares of the FTIL Group but I do have some very good friends and associates who work for it and are extremely wise and forward thinking and manage the FTKMC admirably and who graciously invited me for the MCX Equity Exchange Launch at Hotel Trident where our FM,Mr Chidambaram in his inaugural speech lamented Insider Trading and Speculation but amusingly went on to sound the gong for the Exchange’s first and symbolic Future trade !

    Media has justifiably gone to town on the NSEL and FTIL Group Plight ~Realms can be written on this and am sure a Best Seller Book too will finally be published to reveal what went wrong ! and was it a deliberate sinster plan right at the outset ! ~ and what is the extent of Political patronage at the highest level that’s keeping the Group alive and kicking till now !

    For Now this is all that I’m going to say…….

    From Rs 1224 on November 13,2012 last year the Share price of FTIL sank to Rs 102 on August 30,2013 and had recovered since then to Rs 160 levels

    However today the Share Price intraday dropped over 10% to Rs 140 levels as yesterday on the eve of the AGM the Auditors Deloitte Haskins & Sells has announced that their report of May 30,2013 on the standalone and consolidated results of FTIL results as on March 31,2013 should no longer be relied on ! 

    Remember the Satyam fiasco and how the Auditors Pricewater House had released a similar note warning that the last 39 quarters of their audited results should not be relied on ! ~ this went all the way back from 2009 to 2001 !

    FTIL’s EPS for FY 13 was Rs 70 ~ It’s June Q 1 FY 14 shows Rs 17 ~ but Deloitte now tells us not to rely on their report !

    FTIL owns nearly 100% of the troubled National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) which is embroiled in a Rs 5600 crs payment crisis ~ there is more than meets the eye in NSEL ~ FTIL has already lend Rs 173 crs to NSEL to fund payouts to smaller investors ~How in Hell did this hole in NSEL go undetected for so long !? ~ the answer is suspected to lie in that there was hardly any internal control and deliberately so ~ there was no eternal regulation worth mentioning~ the Operators or Borrowers,the Exchange Administration,the Directors and FTIL as the near 100% Owner  were all seemingly colluding parties ~thousands of crores of borrowed monies were created for the benefit of just a chosen few ,and some were director related parties,through scheming financial structured products,supposedly backed by physical comfort of commodities in warehouses ~ these products were aggressively hawked to high networth investors by a network of brokers,including leading names like Motilal Oswal,Anand Rathi and India Infoline, for a few additional interest points and rolling commission or brokerage ! ~ Most of these funds  are suspected to be diverted away from the exchange read more

    Thanks Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh !….Bengaluru Equity Workshop Concludes Well

    Returned late night from Bengaluru at 1 am in the morning as Flight was delayed after delivering a two day Equity Workshop at the weekend…the  eight in a series for a Broking House…It was pouring as we drove to the New Airport,50 + kms away from the City…but we had a Mad Max Driver who drove as if his life,and ours !, depended on it ! weaving at 100 kmph through stranded cars in the fast flooding roads ! and despite incessant rain whipping the windscreen…paid a ridiculous Rs 260 User Fee to access the Airport

    Had gone earlier on Thursday,to spend two days at a friend’s 75 acre farm, 20 kms outside Bengaluru,on the fringe of the Bannnerghata Wildlife Park…what a great break !…could hear the silence !…had friend’s three dogs ( Small Datschund and Large Dalmatians!) all over me…Elephants and Monkeys destroy crops and so commercial farming becomes a tedious affair …tried to spot a Gharial in one of his four water harvested ponds on the farm…it had probably slipped in from the forest through the canals….relaxed company , great organic food,fresh vegetables,fresh mangoes,fresh coconut water,fresh jackfruit and fresh rains !…too short a break,though !

    Then switched to workshop mode on Saturday Morning….It was truly satisfying…When I threw the House open  for any questions on Sunday ,prompt came the first one “When will you come back to Bengaluru for your next workshop !?….Thanks! Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh ! for some great participation

    We had some fun discussing Valuations of Reliance Industries,Satyam and Reliance Power and even Jaiprakash Hydro among others companies…and am glad you’ll were genuine in your reactions when we played the Integrity,Insider Trading and Irrational Behaviour Scenarios

    Now you know how Mumbai,Vadodora and Rajkot got excited  on Reliance Ind Valuations in March and April 2009  at Rs 1100 to Rs 1300 !…maybe I should have come to Bengaluru first !

    So all of you know what is the appropriate Valuation Basis to use for Satyam…and how you can make some money on it ,based on an event based risk in June 2009 !

    You are now acquainted with the Valuation Risks of Reliance Power at Rs 180 and Jai Prakash Hydro at Rs 70 !

    Shanteeth,I hope we do get to 23000 + on the Sensex in 2009 itself, as you aggressively suggested at the outset of the workshop based on Technicals…though  I showed you why it looks highly improbable on Fundamentals !…glad you loved the Book I gave you “Screw it ! Just Do it! ” by Richard Branson…now pass it on so someone else enjoys it too ! read more

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