Gujarat NRE Coke files Rs 4761 cr suit against Austral Coke

Ahmedabad, Aug 13 (UNI) Gujarat NRE Coke Limited (GNCL) has claimed to have filed a civil suit worth Rs 4,761 crore in the Calcutta High Court against Austral Coke, its directors, auditors, merchant bankers and others associated with that company's IPO for using GNCLs name in a distorted and misleading way to sell its issue to public investors, which is slated to close today.

The defamation suit was filed yesterday on the grounds that GNCL has taken serious objection to Austral Coke's use of its name in a distorted and misleading way.

GNCL also prayed to the high court that by using its name, Austral Coke has severely damaged its reputation, leading to a loss in its market capitalisation and shareholder interest, for which it has sought compensation.

The company has also sought a declaration from the High Court that there was no family relationship and an injunction restraining the Austral promoters from terming the matter as a family dispute was sought.

GNCL has also sought an injunction restraining Austral Coke or any of its associates from making and publicising any sort of comparison between GNCL and Austral Coke.

Austral Coke and GNCL are involved in a war of words regarding the structure and production capacity of the former. GNCL claimed that Austral Coke had misled investors by inflating capacity.

On Thursday last, when the IPO went for subscription, GNCL said Austral Coke had misrepresented facts in its prospectus by putting the total capacity at 3,75,000 tonnes when the actual capacity was around 70,000 tonne.

UNI PVN SSS SKB AS1713