Ceylon Leather Products said in a separate stock exchanging filing that Galleon International Master Fund, its biggest shareholder, sold its 29 percent stake or 3,625,000 shares at 55 rupees to Environmental Resources Investment.
Environmental Resources Investment said that as a result of Friday's acquisition, ERIL and its parent firm, Lionhart Investments, hold 52.79 percent of Ceylon Leather. Lionhart had bought an almost 24 percent stake in the firm in 2007.
Under stock exchange rules, with the latest acquisition, ERIL has to make a mandatory offer for the remaining 5.9 million shares of Ceylon Leather (47.20 percent stake) at 55 rupees, highest price paid by the buyers in the previous 12 months.
Galleon is owned by billionaire Sri Lankan-born hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam who was arrested and freed on bail on insider dealing charges in the US.
Rajaratnam, who had denied the insider dealing charges, is selling his holdings in the island to raise cash to repay investors who have been withdrawing money from his fund after his arrest.
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