ITC acquires 2.44% stake in EIH and 0.53% in Leela Mumbai

ITC has acquired 2.44% equity in luxury hospitality company EIH Limited while buying 0.53% of the share capital in HLV Limited, the company on Wednesday informed the exchanges post-market hours. The shares were acquired from Russell Credit, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company.

While EIH is a flagship company of The Oberoi Group, HLV is synonymous with The Leela Mumbai. EIH’s 2.44% stake represents over 1.5 crore equity shares and HLV’s 0.53% equity accounts for 34.60 lakh equity shares.

ITC shares on Wednesday ended at Rs 471.25 on the NSE, up by Rs 1.70 or 0.36%.

The move comes amid the Kolkata-based diversified conglomerate’s announcement of demerger of its hotels business.

The company has fixed January 6, 2025, as the record date for the much-awaited demerger.

“We write to advise that the company and ITC Hotels Limited (ITCHL) have mutually agreed to fix Monday, 6th January, 2025, as the Record Date for the purpose of determining the shareholders of the company to whom equity shares of ITCHL would be allotted,” ITC said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.Earlier in the week, ITC had announced that as all approvals are in place, the demerger of ITC Hotels will come into effect from January 1, 2025.Earlier in October this year, the Kolkata Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had approved the demerger between ITC Limited and ITC Hotels Limited. ITC said it got a copy of the NCLT order on 16th December.

According to the rules, the demerger scheme will be effective on the first day of the following month after filing a certified copy of the NCLT order with the Registrar of Companies, West Bengal, and fulfilling other conditions & matters.

Shareholders had already approved the demerger in June, with the resolution passing with the requisite majority. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) cleared the proposal in May. ITC has emphasised that its hotel business has matured and is now ready to chart its own growth path as a separate entity with a focused business approach and optimal capital structure.

The company announced its plans to demerge its hotel business in August 2023 into a separate entity. Under this demerger scheme, ITC will maintain 40% ownership of ITC Hotels, with ITC shareholders acquiring the remaining 60% in proportion to their stake in the parent entity.

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