In a bid to acquire a majority stake in Orissa Sponge Iron & Steel, three un-listed Indian firms have jointly made an open offer to acquire 26 percent of its equity, for Rs 300 per share.

Under the arrangement, Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd along with Titanic Steel Industries and Olympian Steel Industries would acquire stake in Orissa Sponge through open offer.

The open offer is for the acquisition of 52 lakh shares of Rs 10 each of Orissa Sponge from its existing shareholders. The offer will open on April 3 and close on April 23.

The offer price of Orissa Sponge shares' at Rs 300 reflects a premium of 91 per cent over Friday's closing price of  Rs 157.25 on BSE. The stock is presently ruling at Rs 165 on BSE.

Incorporated in 1979, Orissa Sponge has iron ores reserves of around 120 million tonne and coal reserves of a similar amount. The company has sponge iron and steel billet plants in Palaspanga (Orissa) with an installed capacity of 2.5 lakh tonnes.  

It may be noted that, Bhushan Steel recently picked 9.5% stake in Orissa Sponge Iron Steel for Rs 23 crore. The company already owned 5.35% in Orissa Sponge and with the latest move, Bhushan Steel's stake in Orissa Sponge rose to 14.85%.

The scrip of Bhushan Steel presently trading at Rs 334 on BSE, up 17% compared to previous close of Rs 284.5.