Manappuram Finance Says Enforcement Action Against Promoter, Not Company

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian non-bank lender Manappuram Finance Ltd, in a notification to stock exchanges on Friday, clarified that the enforcement action against its promoter is not linked to affairs of the listed entity.

On Thursday, the Enforcement Directorate, India's financial crime fighting agency, said that it has frozen assets worth 1.43 billion rupees ($17.50 million) after a search conducted at the company's registered office.

The assets that were frozen include shares and some documents were seized, the agency said.

Manappuram's promoter, V.P. Nandakumar, said in the notification that the probe was not related to the company but a private entity called Manappuram Agro Farms, which is no longer in existence.

Nandakumar said the agency froze Manappuram Finance shares worth about 20 billion rupees that he held, but assigned them a value of about 1.40 billion rupees, adding he was reviewing legal options in the matter.

Shares of the company were trading 13% lower at 10.38 a.m. on Friday, while the benchmark Sensex was down 0.3%

(Reporting by Ira Dugal; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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