The India Fund, Inc. (NYSE: IFN; the “Fund”) announced today that the
Fund’s semi-annual repurchase offer will commence today and terminate on
March 13, 2009. In April 2003, stockholders of the Fund voted to adopt
an interval fund structure, pursuant to which the Fund conducts
semi-annual repurchase offers for between 5% and 25% of the Fund’s
outstanding common stock. Accordingly, the Fund’s Board of Directors
(the “Board”) authorized the Fund’s repurchase offer for this
semi-annual period of up to 5% of its outstanding common stock, the
details of which are as follows:
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Purpose of the Repurchase Offer
– The repurchase offer is intended to provide Fund stockholders
who wish to have their shares repurchased based on net asset value
(“NAV”) with the opportunity to have at least a portion of such
shares repurchased.
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What to Expect –
The repurchase offer will begin on February 20, 2009 and will end
on March 13, 2009. Materials will be sent to stockholders of
record as of February 13, 2009 in conjunction with the start of
the offer on February 20, 2009.
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Price – The
repurchase price of the shares will be their NAV per share at the
close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”)
on March 20, 2009. The shares tendered in the repurchase offer
will be subject to a repurchase fee of 2% of NAV for expenses
directly related to the repurchase offer.
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Number of Shares – If
more than 5% of the Fund’s outstanding common stock is tendered,
the Fund will either (1) repurchase all of the additional shares
tendered, if the additional shares do not exceed 2% of the Fund’s
outstanding common stock, or (2) purchase 5% of the Fund’s
outstanding common stock on a pro rata basis.
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Deadline – The
deadline for participating in the repurchase offer is 5:00 p.m.
New York City time on March 13, 2009. The NAV of the shares may
fluctuate between the deadline and March 20, 2009, the pricing
date of the repurchase offer. The payment date for the repurchase
offer is on or before March 27, 2009.
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During the repurchase offer, the NAV of the shares will be calculated as
of the close of regular trading on the NYSE each Friday and each of the
five business days preceding the repurchase request deadline on March
13, 2009.
The Fund’s common stock has at times traded at a premium to the
Fund’s NAV per share. It may not be in a stockholder’s interest
to tender shares in connection with this repurchase offer if the Fund’s
common stock is trading at a premium. The market price of the
Fund’s common stock can and does fluctuate. Accordingly, on March
20, 2009, the pricing date of the repurchase offer, the market price of
the Fund’s common stock may be above or below the Fund’s NAV per share.
To obtain the weekly NAV or the NYSE closing price of the shares or for
questions concerning the repurchase offer or for requests for the Fund’s
repurchase offer materials, stockholders should contact Georgeson Inc.
(“Georgeson”), the Fund’s Information Agent, toll free at
1-866-297-1264, or, for banks or brokers, at 1-212-440-9800.
Neither the Fund, its Investment Manager nor its Board is making any
recommendation to any stockholder whether to tender shares in the
repurchase offer. The Fund and the Board urge stockholders to read and
evaluate the repurchase offer materials carefully before deciding
whether to participate in the repurchase offer. This announcement is not
an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell shares of
the Fund. The repurchase offer is being made only through the Offer to
Repurchase and the related Letter of Transmittal. Holders of Fund shares
should read these documents when they are available because they contain
important information. These and other filed documents will be available
to investors for free both at the website of the Securities and Exchange
Commission and from Georgeson. The repurchase offer is not being made
to, nor will tenders be accepted from or on behalf of, holders of shares
in any jurisdiction in which making or accepting the repurchase offer
would violate that jurisdiction’s laws.
The Fund is a closed-end management investment company that seeks
long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in Indian equity
securities. The Fund conducts semi-annual repurchase offers and is
traded on the NYSE under the trading symbol “IFN.”
Blackstone Asia Advisors L.L.C. serves as the Investment Manager to the
Fund. The Investment Manager is an affiliate of The Blackstone Group L.P.
Information on the Fund can be obtained on the Blackstone website (www.blackstone.com)
or by calling the Fund’s toll-free phone number at 1-866-800-8933.
This press release may contain statements regarding plans and
expectations for the future that constitute forward-looking statements
within the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All
statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking
and can be identified by the use of words such as “may,” “will,”
“expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “believe,” “continue” or other
similar words. Such forward-looking statements are based on the
Fund’s current plans and expectations, and are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those described in the forward-looking statements. Additional
information concerning such risks and uncertainties are contained in the
Fund’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Blackstone Asia Advisors L.L.C.
1-866-800-8933
