The Telegraph reported that Mr Sajjan Jindal ruled out the possibility of Japanese steel maker JFE picking up more stake in JSW Steel Ltd beyond the present level of 14.78%.

Speaking to the media Mr Jindal also stubbed out the possibility of partnering JFE separately for West Bengal’s Salboni project.

Mr Jindal said that “We have an agreement that the JFE stake will stay at 15% and that will continue.”

Mr Jindal’s comments comes weeks after the Japanese steel maker said it was open to the idea of raising its stake beyond the current level once the new takeover code came into effect.

Mr Eiji Hayashida president of JFE had told business daily Nikkei on August 21 that “Under the current Indian rules, we cannot boost our stake in JSW without launching a tender offer bid. But should the situation change in the future, we hope to explore the option of raising our stake to above 15%.”

Mr Hayashida had been quoted as saying by Nikkei that “I have told managing director Mr Sajjan Jindal about our intentions and we have had no negative response so far.”

The code, formulated by market regulator SEBI will allow an entity to acquire up to 24.99% without making a mandatory open offer to acquire additional shares from stakeholders, potentially destabilising existing promoters. At present, the threshold is 15% and JFE’s stake in JSW is just a tad below that.

(Sourced from www.telegraphindia.com)