Mumbai, March 4: A senior Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) official today termed the UB group?s open offer price for Shaw Wallace shares attractive.

LIC holds 4.60 per cent of Shaw Wallace that saw a surprise and unsolicited open offer from the UB group. UTI holds a 7.84 per cent stake in the liquor company.

The insurance major is yet to decide on the offer. However, the market expects a counter bid against the UB offer.

Meanwhile the shares of McDowell & Co were down 4.79 per cent at Rs 164.85 and Shaw Wallace surrendered 3.11 per cent at Rs 219.70.

The stock markets were reacting to the Calcutta High Court order that stayed the sale of shares, trademarks and brands of Shaw Wallace following a petition filed by three creditors of the liquor company for recovery of dues worth around Rs 80 crore.

Meanwhile, the UB group had declared that the high court order does not impact the open offer. ?Calcutta High Court's order to maintain status quo with regard to the trademark and brands of Shaw Wallace and Company will not in any way affect the open offer made by the UB group,? the company had said.

Ravi Nedungadi, president and chief financial officer of the UB group, said the open offer, commencing on April 18, will go ahead as scheduled. He went on to add that the UB group was aware of these liabilities before making the offer.

The Calcutta High Court order dated March 1 was in response to suits filed against Shaw Wallace by Visisth Chay Vyapar Ltd, M. K. J. Enterprises Ltd and M. K. J. Developers Ltd and which culminated into a decree in mid-December 1997 for Rs 26.59 crore, Rs 5.91 crore and Rs 2.66 crore respectively. An execution application was filed before the high court wherein these three companies sought an injunction against the company for transfer of trademarks and brands and also its holdings in various companies.

The high court order directed status quo to be maintained regarding transfer of shares as well as brands and trademarks.

The open offer price at which the UB group proposes to acquire 25 per cent outstanding capital of Shaw Wallace at Rs 250 per share. This values the equity at Rs 1200 crore, which implies a premium of 150 per cent over the average market capitalisation of the past 12 months.