Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s (ONGC) shares jumped on Tuesday after the state-owned oil and gas company announced the plans of its overseas unit, Imperial Energy Ltd (IEL), to merge five of its subsidiaries into itself. 

ONGC’s shares hit an intraday high of Rs 281.15, 2.31% higher than its previous closing price on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The stock closed 0.86% higher at Rs 277. 

According to ONGC’s exchange filing, IEL was the company’s wholly-owned step-down subsidiary held through ONGC Videsh Ltd. IEL has seven step-down subsidiary businesses in Cyprus and Russia. The filing added that IEL unveiled its plans to merge five subsidiaries into its operations.

IEL’s shareholders approved the merger of Imperial Energy Cyprus Ltd, Imperial Energy Nord Ltd, Redcliffe Holdings Ltd, Biancus Holding Ltd and San Agio Investment Ltd (SAIL), with IEL acting as the consolidating entity on February 19, the filing added. 

The plan is subject to approval from the Cypriot court, under whose jurisdiction IEL and its subsidiaries are incorporated. Following the merger, ONGS’s step-down subsidiaries in Cyprus will be reduced to 3 companies: IEL, Imperial Frac Services Cyprus Ltd (IFSCL) and Imperial Energy Tomsk Ltd (IETL).