Texmaco, which is based in the western city of Kolkata, has acquired the holdings of the promoters of Kalindee Rail.

The company has now become a front runner to acquire rail engineering firm and the company has launched an open offer for additional shares. Texmaco has acquired 15.63 per cent stake in Kalindee at the rate of Rs 65 a share. The deal was valued at Rs 12.59 crore and the company has priced the open offer at Rs 68 apiece.

Saroj Poddar-owned Texmaco is now against Jaipur-based Jupiter Metal Private Ltd, which has launched its own unsolicited open offer for Kalindee at Rs 65 a share. The shares of Kalindee closed at 70.65 a share on Friday, which Is higher than the offer price of both offers.

"Today, we have signed a share purchase agreement. The entire process will take three months. If all goes well, we will have complete control of Kalindee. It is a provider of services, while Texmaco is into products. Once we are together, the group will be able to offer the entire bouquet of services to customers, mainly Indian Railways," Saroj Poddar, chairman of Texmaco said.

Kalindee is a leading provider of services in signalling, telecommunication and automation.