Sebi's plan boosts EIH, Viceroy stocks

MUMBAI: The proposed changes to Sebi's takeover code lifted sentiments in a host of companies in which market players feel that the existing large shareholders could increase their stakes.
EIH, EIH Associates and Viceroy Hotels are among those counters which witnessed hectic buying on Friday.
In Friday's volatile market, EIH Associates, which belongs to the Oberoi group that runs the luxury hotel chain under the Oberoi and Trident brand names, rallied to close with the maximum possible 20% gain at Rs 166.EIH, the flagship company from the same group, also rallied 12.5% to Rs 96. In EIH, while tobacco-to-hotels major ITC holds 14.9%, which is just below the 15% open offer trigger limit, private sector giant RIL holds an equal stake. While ITC's stake buy does not have the approval of the group's promoters, Mukesh Ambani-led RIL picked up the stake with the full backing of the Oberois.
While the gains in EIH were on expectations that that under the changed rules,
ITC and RIL could both try to hike their stakes to the new trigger limit of 25%, the rally in EIH Associates was on the back of expectations that it this company would eventually be merged with the group's flagship.
Viceroy Hotels rallied on the back of high holdings by known investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and corporate major Anil Ambani. While Jhunjhunwala holds 11.2% in the company, Ambani's Sonata Investments has a 5.9% stake in the company.
However, Hotel Leelaventures, where one holder has 14.9 %, ended lower.
The surprise stock in the pack was Hotel Leela, in which ITC has a 14.9% stake yet the stock closed marginally lower on the BSE, at Rs 46.
RIL at over 2-year low: The slide in RIL continued on Friday with the stock losing another 1.2% to Rs 828, a 28-month low.Institutional dealers said that a large FII shareholder was selling the stock in large chunks and hence the slide in the scrip.