mumbai markets regulator sebi has asked pnb housing finance pnbhfl to put on hold its preferential allotment plan to pe major carlyle group and its associates as the valuation of shares was ultra vires of the home finance companys articles of association aoa sebi has also asked the company to appoint a new and independent valuer for the shares valuation before selling any more pnbhfls disclosure to the exchanges showedin its letter to pnbhfl sebi said that the resolution about preferential allotment in its notice of the extraordinary general meeting egm was ultravires of aoa and shall not be acted upon until the company undertakes the valuation of shares as prescribed under 192 of aoa for purpose of preferential allotment from an independent registered valuer as per the provisions of applicable laws sebi also directed the companys board to consider this new report while deciding on the preferential issue of shares and warrants the regulatory directive came after ses an institutional shareholders advisory firm pointed out that the allotment of shares to the pe major and its associates valued at rs 4000 crore was ultra vires of pnbhfls aoa ses also said that the way the whole deal was structured was skewed against minority shareholders currently holding about 15 in the mortgage lenderan egm is scheduled for june 22 as part of the whole process through which carlyle and its associates were to become the majority owner of the mortgage lender replacing public sector banking major pnb an open offer has also been rolled out by hsbc the banker to the offerafter sebi asked for a preliminary report on the matter from pnbhfl through the exchanges in the first week of june a company spokesperson had told toi that the shareallotment proposal was arrived at after following all the rules and lawsin its disclosure to the exchanges too pnbhfl reiterated its stand and said that the company had acted in compliance with all relevant applicable laws including the applicable pricing regulations prescribed by sebi and the aoa of the company it also said that the preferential allotment was in the best interests of pnbhfl its shareholders and all relevant stakeholderssince the time it became public knowledge that the pe major along with its associates would become its new owners the stock price of pnbhfl had more than doubled within a month to its 52week high of rs 924 by june 8 however since the controversy about the preferential allotment erupted the stock has corrected to its friday close of rs 739 on the bse