Alliance Cap sells its 2.3% stake in Polaris

Mumbai: Alliance Capital Mutual Fund sold 1.17 million shares or 2.29 percent of the equity of Indian software services company Polaris Software Lab, the National Stock Exchange informed.

Alliance Capital Mutual Fund, the Indian arm of U.S.-based investment manager Alliance Capital Management Holding LP, manages about Rs 38 billion ($787 million) spread over seven equity and six debt schemes.

Polaris' shares have tumbled about 20 percent after the company reported on October 26 its July-September consolidated net profit fell 40.5 percent from a year earlier to Rs 92.75 million ($1.92 million)

They closed up 2.81 percent to Rs 149.90 on Thursday at the Bombay Stock Exchange, whose key index ended down 0.24 percent.

The Chennai-based company also revised the share swap ratio for a proposed merger with Citigroup's unlisted Indian technology unit, Orbitech Solutions, when announcing its quarterly results. Under the new terms, Orbitech shareholders will get 10.66 shares for every 25 they hold, against the 14 they were to get under an earlier plan.

(US$1 = Rs 48.3)

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