Dunlop chairman P. K. Ruia (left) with director M. Lal in Calcutta on Saturday. Picture by Kishor Roy Chowdhury

Calcutta, April 14: Dunlop has extended the closing of rights issue to April 24 to accommodate participation of small shareholders.

The company, which has come up with a Rs 27-crore issue, has over 35,000 shareholders, but only 1,478 could apply within April 19, the date specified earlier.

However, the issue has still been oversubscribed as large shareholders and financial institutions have applied for huge quantity of shares.

“Many shareholders had called and said they wanted to apply, but could not do so as the time was short. So we have extended the period to give all a fair chance,” Dunlop chairman Pawan K. Ruia said.

Six shares of Dunlop are being offered at Rs 10 at par for every 10 shares held.

After the issue, the paid-up capital of the company will go up to Rs 72 crore from Rs 45 crore at present.

The authorised share capital, on the other hand, will increase to Rs 175 crore from the current level of Rs 70 crore to accommodate a Rs 100-crore preference share issue.

Shareholders today approved both the rights and preference issues at an extraordinary general meeting in Calcutta.

Ruia said the preference shares could be issued to foreign companies to raise funds for strengthening Dunlop.