Happiest Minds' shares down 12% after merger with ITC Infotech
What's the story
The share price of Happiest Minds Technologies nosedived by nearly 12% today, following the company's announcement of a merger with ITC Infotech. The stock opened at ₹407.50 against its previous close of ₹407.15 but soon fell to an intraday low of ₹360.90 on the BSE. The sudden decline in share price comes amid the company's plans to create an AI-first global technology services enterprise through this merger.
Merger
Merger details and market reaction
The merger, announced on August 31, is between Happiest Minds Technologies and ITC Infotech, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ITC.
The companies plan to create a firm with a revenue target of $1 billion by FY28.
Notably, the Happiest Minds share is down by 21% year-to-date, in comparison to a 10% fall in the Sensex.
Over the past one year, it has fallen by 36%, while Sensex lost around 4%.
Bull run
What about ITC shares?
After the merger announcement, ITC shares are seeing a bull run today.
The stocks are currently trading at ₹263.70 apiece, up by 2.91% compared to yesterday.
The rally comes following a sharp decline in the shares this year, with ITC down 27.8% year-to-date, compared with an 8.1% fall in Nifty.
The firm's market capitalisation stands at more than ₹3.29 lakh crore.