The Hindu Business Line : Who's buying into Daewoo India?

Even as the court-appointed liquidator has taken possession of the assets of Daewoo Motors India Ltd (DMIL), there is a sudden buying interest at the Daewoo counter, albeit without a corresponding increase in the price.

On Monday, even while the receivers were taking control of the facility at Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh), DMIL shares numbering 98,124 changed hands on the BSE through just 154 trades throughout the day. It was not a single day's development though. The buying interest continued through Tuesday with another 64,862 shares changing hands in 86 trades on the BSE.

There has been a clear trend visible over the last four trading sessions. The average volume through May till now remained below the 20,000-mark, except on May 9 when 23,800 shares changed hands. But last Thursday onwards, the average volume recorded was more than 50,000 with Monday recording the highest volume so far for the month.

And this has taken market watchers as well as automobile companies by surprise. According to a top official in one of the automobile companies, "It is probably a case of some investor having been conned into buying the shares in the hope that the lenders have found a buyer for the assets."

However, market watchers feel that it might not be as simple as that. A top broker who simultaneously operates on all the exchanges said: "Since the company promoters' holding is already over 90 per cent, it couldn't be a takeover move. Nor will any serious investor be interested in the company because the total liability is more than six times the total property value. But, it could certainly bear some relation with the possibility of future delisting. In which case, the investor who is mopping up the shares may make a decent earning."

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