When the COVID pandemic forced a stay-at-home period in 2020, a Mumbai woman experienced a life-changing event. Priya Sharma was going through her grandfather’s will when she came upon the abandoned shares. These were not just random shares that weren’t worth the effort. In 2004, her grandfather acquired 500 shares of Larsen & Toubro (L&T), a blue-chip construction company. Because these investments had been dormant and nearly forgotten for a number of years, he had not tampered with them too much. The stocks’ worth increased over time, ultimately changing Priya’s life.
According to First Post, Priya inherited more than simply 500 L&T shares. She would now earn 4,500 stocks as a result of bonus shares and stock splits.
You may wonder, how? So, when a company issues more outstanding shares in order to improve liquidity, a stock split takes place. In a 1:2 split, for example, every share is split in half, thus doubling the shareholder count while keeping the investment’s value the same.
Contrarily, bonus shares are extra shares that are granted to current owners at no additional expense, based on the quantity of shares they now possess.
Getting back to Priya, the news outlet states that while the quantity of L&T shares increased ninefold, their value also saw a dramatic rise.
First Post reported that the stocks were appraised at about Rs 1.72 crore.
However, retrieving this long-forgotten treasure was not simple.
Priya, who now lived in Bangalore, encountered several difficulties getting her grandfather’s records and initiating the Mumbai probate procedure.
She began the procedure by writing to L&T, which then required her to fulfil a number of administrative requirements. She quickly realised that she required professional help.
This is when the company Share Samadhan, which specialises in retrieving lost investments, entered the picture. Priya’s paperwork, including her grandfather’s will, was thoroughly examined by the company.
“We learned that since the number of shares was substantial and the client did not have original shares in possession, it was going to be a tough task since the company would have to do multiple verifications. Further probate of the will was also required to be done,” Share Samadhan told Firstpost.
The first, and maybe most important, job was to get a probate of the will. Share Samadhan reportedly worked with L&T to update Priya’s KYC (Know Your Customer) data and get the comprehensive shareholding statement required for the probate in order to obtain the probate in Mumbai.
Following the acquisition of the probate, L&T discovered a mismatch between Priya’s grandfather’s formal paperwork and the name on the share certificate. To reconcile this disparity, an affidavit was required, the report added.
Due to the high value of the shares, L&T furthermore required someone to sign a surety bond and act as a financial guarantee in order to issue duplicate shares.
Priya eventually found a distant relative to take on this responsibility, First Post reports.
In order to prevent false claims, L&T sought an in-person verification, which was fulfilled along with the negotiation process and the provision of the required evidence.
Priya finally succeeded in retrieving her grandfather’s lost wealth after over a year of tenacious work, when she obtained a replica certificate from L&T.
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