Patanjali Foods Ltd on Friday said it will not come out with another follow-on public offering (FPO) to attain minimum public holding of 25 per cent. Instead, it is considering options such as qualified institutional placement and offer for sale as it refuted news reports of another FPO in April.

“It is clarified that Patanjali Foods Ltd is not considering undertaking another further public offering (FPO) for achieving minimum public shareholding,” the company said.

On Wednesday, the stock exchanges had frozen the promoter shares of Patanjali Foods for not meeting the minimum public shareholding norms. Rule 19A(5) of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules, 1957 mandates a listed entity to have a minimum public shareholding of 25 per cent.

The company, whose public shareholding stands at 19.18 per cent, was required to raise this level to 25 per cent within a maximum period of three years which was December 18, 2022.

As this was not done, the stock exchanges froze the promoters’ shares.

The shares that have been affected include 21 Patanjali group entities such as Acharya Balkrishna the Patanjali chairman, Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, Patanjali Parivahan and Patanjali Gramudhyog Nayas.

Around 29,25,76,299 equity shares that constitute 80.82 per cent of the company’s equity were affected by the bourses order. PFL said that it wants to meet the minimum public shareholding norm for which it is exploring other options. These include QIP and an OFS.

In QIP, companies issue equity shares, fully and partly convertible debentures or other securities that can be converted to equity shares to qualified institutional buyers (QIBs).

QIBs are institutional investors such as mutual funds, foreign portfolio investors, commercial banks, multilateral & bilateral development financial institutions, insurance companies, provident funds, and pension funds.

Patanjali Foods on Friday ended lower by 4.43 per cent or Rs 41.55 at Rs 896.50 as the sentiment continued to be soured over the bourses decision.

Since the beginning of this calendar year, the shares have declined by over 24 per cent.

While the possibility of PFL issuing preference shares to an institutional investor can also not be ruled out in the future, the company said that it may also come out with OFS under the stock exchange mechanism.