Business Desk :
Alif Group has reached an agreement with C&A Textiles to take over the firm that has not been in production for a long time.
In a media call, arranged by the Alif Group to disclose details on the acquisition, Alif Group’s Managing Director Azimul Islam said, “Previously we have bought CMC Kamal Textile and Sajeeb Industries which is currently doing rather well under Alif Group. Likewise, we want to take C&A Textile forward.”
Responding to a query on if there is any ill intent behind the decision to acquire the company, Azimul responded saying, “No business can grow with ill-motives.”
C&A Textiles’ share price rose by 221% from Tk 2.20 as news of the acquisition started to spread.
Denying involvement behind the increase in share prices, Azimul Islam said, “Talks to acquire the company began in September. We have not discussed this issue with anyone until on Tuesday. We are not involved in raising the share price of this company in the stock market.”
Earlier, the group announced the acquisition of Central Pharma and BD Welding, which are listed on the stock exchange. This led to a significant increase in the share price of those companies. But later the group backed away from the acquisition decision.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) also fined Alif Group’s managing director and others for manipulating shares of Legacy Footwear.
Asked about these issues, Azimul Islam said there were several problems with the acquisition of Central Pharma and BD Welding. So we did not proceed.
“However, we made a mistake as we didn’t secure approval from the regulatory body BSEC. But this time we didn’t make the same mistake. We have proceeded after getting the nod from the regulatory body,” he said.
“We wanted to buy shares of Legacy Footwear and get to its board. If we wanted to manipulate, we would not buy shares in our name,” he defended his position adding, “If we do it right, the money will follow. You don’t have to run after it. “
Alif Group started its business in the country in 1967 through oil trading. From there, the scope of business expanded in various sectors including readymade garments, textiles, yarn, financial institutions, the housing sector, electronic media, education and technology. The group earns about Tk2,500 crore a year.
