Pyramid Saimira smells foul play in Sebi letter

MUMBAI

: Drama followed drama as shares of theatre chain company Pyramid Saimira Theatre Ltd (PSTL) got badly battered, closing Tuesday 9.94 per cent down at Rs 61.15 on the BSE.

Alleging that a letter issued about its open offer by market regulator Sebi (Securities

and Exchange Board of India) has been forged, PSTL has called for an investigation into the whole issue.

“Sebi confirmed to the company that they have not issued any such letter,” PSTL said in a statement.

PSTL said in a statement issued to press that the competitors and big business interests are behind the constant hammering of its share price, thus creating panic among its investors.

“We have asked Sebi, BSE, NSE and police to trace the whereabouts of the letter. The CBI will also be included since there is evidence that a government‘s letter head has been forged by concerned parties,” said PSTL.

In the last few days, the company‘s scrip was active, on news of Sebi asking the company to go for an open offer, which the company denied on Monday. Early Tuesday morning, PSTL promoter, chairman and MD PS Saminathan said the company had received a letter from Sebi, asking to make an open offer to buy 20 per cent in the company at Rs 250 per share within 14 days.

Later in the day, the company said the open offer letter was forged and that Sebi confirmed the same to them.

In October, Saminathan bought a 25 per cent stake in the company from two promoters – NC Ravichandran and Nirmal Kotecha – for about Rs 1.4 billion at Rs 200 per share. As a result, Saminathan‘s personal holding in PSTL reached up to 46.8 per cent or 13,258,575 shares of the total paid up capital. The market price of PSTL was Rs 60 per share at that time.

Saminathan called for an investigation, saying the company‘s price counter since June 2008 did not reflect its fundamentals.