Maharashtra Scooters has the following listed investments:
1,897,466 shares of Bajaj Finance.
6,774,072 shares of Bajaj Auto.
3,725,740 shares of Bajaj Finserv.
3,387,036 shares of Bajaj Holdings and Investments.
In my calculations the current market value of listed investments is around Rs. 3662 crores.
The total market capitalization of the company is Rs. 1104 crores with 0 debt.
Disc: No holdings yet, investor in Bajaj Finserv. Will invest soon after rechecking my calculations.
Since its kinda holding company, what is probability these holdings will ever be liquidated (All bajaj group cos). If no trigger in foreseeable future, company might trade at similar discount in future too.
Thanks for a great find… 75-80% of its income is coming from dividends from its investee companies and interests. So, an investor who holds this stock is automatically taking exposure four of the Bajaj Group gems…
It looks like a decent investment considering the abundant dividends it has been paying ever since the winding down of the production of geared scooters in 2006
i think we have more such companies…tata also has a similar company. The prob is that without any business model der is no trigger of rerating. it will always be available at a discount.
When I began investing, I had read a report on Tata Investment Corporation. Investments in such companies are to be treated as investments in mutual funds. The only triggers for re-rating of such stocks is if the underlying companies get re-rated. The “holding company” discount is also quite huge and normally more than 50%. This has been my observation too.
The basic question - What are triggers for price appreciation in an holding co? If it that the stock price of companies held and the discount increases and thereby price appreciation of holding company. My simple understand is that a good dividend paying holding might offer stability in portfolio. Interested to know your views. Another Holding co I was checking is Florence Investec which hold shares of JK Cement/Genetics etc and available at a huge discount.
Normally I would dislike Hold cos as you get a basket, all of which might not be of relevance for you. But in this case, the company is available at deep discount to Bajaj Finance holdings alone - all other equities + debt instruments are added bonus. Just increases your margin of safety further.
Price appreciation would be linked to
a) growth in portfolio companies and dividends thereof.
b) any reduction in hold co discounts
Look at the Top 10 shareholders and you would find immediate comfort to follow this holding co route to hold Baja Finance, than directly.
Liquidity is a bigger concern, and at times it is available at deeper discounts due to the liquidity issues - which might give additional entry points.
For those who are familiar with the case between WMDC and Bajaj for stake sale of Maharashtra Scooters here is the case status which says [FINAL DISPOSAL AT ADMISSION STAGE - CIVIL CASES]). This status is usually given to cases where the court feels judgement can be given fairly quickly. Once the judgement is given there is of course the possibility of value unlocking through amalgamation/merger. The change in case status might be the reason why the discount has narrowed a bit in the last 10 days. If you are not familiar with the case you can read about it here.
the main beneficiary of this purchase at the discounted value will be Bajaj Holdings who was fighting the case as they will be acquiring the stake of Maharashtra Scooted at much below mkt price.
After the court case there is no justification for this company to exist. Rahul and Sanjiv Bajaj have said in the past any decision on liquidation etc will be taken after the court case is over. The promoters have Bajaj Holdings if they want to increase their stake in the group companies at a discount. Maharashtra Scooters has very less stake in the group companies and also less free float for the promoters to buy from the open market. Let’s hope common sense prevails and there is a demerger/liquidation/share swap to unlock the full value of around Rs 9000 per share.
Disclosure Core part of my portfolio. Invested at lower levels
The judgement on the price of equity shares was finally done in June 2019. Post the judgement Bajaj Holding increased it stake to 51%. An article stating the history and the cross holding with Maharashtra Scooters - Maharashtra Scooters Limited becomes subsidiary of Bajaj Holdings
I think they may finally merge/dissolve Maharashtra Scooters as there is no actual operations and mainly investments only in group companies as mentioned by you in a later post.
