Nalco stake sale on Friday; govt to raise around Rs1,400 crore
1 min read 13 Mar 2013, 06:59 PM ISTPost disinvestment, the government’s stake in Nalco will come down to 75%
Premium(Pradeep Gaur/Mint)
New Delhi: The finance ministry on Wednesday said the government’s 12.5% stake sale offer in National Aluminium Co. Ltd. (Nalco) will hit the markets on 15 March, which could mop up around Rs1,400 crore to the exchequer.
The share sale through offer for sale (OFS) route will be held on Friday, disinvestment secretary Ravi Mathur told reporters here after an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) meeting.
The EGoM on disinvestment, headed by finance minister P. Chidambaram met on Wednesday and decided on the base price for the share sale. He, however, did not disclose the base price for the issue.
The sale of 12.5% stake, or 31.31 crore shares, of Nalco is expected to fetch around Rs1,400 crore to the exchequer at the current market price. Shares of Nalco closed at Rs46.30, up 2.32% over previous close on the BSE.
The department of disinvestment (DoD) has held roadshows in Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, the US and the UK on 19 February for disinvestment of the state-run aluminium company.
The government currently holds 87.15% stake in Nalco and post disinvestment, it will come down to 75%. The government had in November last year deferred disinvestment of Nalco citing poor second-quarter performance which raised valuation concerns and said the stake sale would happen only after the third quarter results.
The aluminium major reported a more than two-fold jump in its October-December quarter net profit to Rs118.94 crore, on the back of improved sales. Nalco had a profit of Rs51.22 crore in the same period last fiscal.
Enam Securities, SBI Caps and IDFC are merchant bankers for the Nalco disinvestment.
The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) had in September 2012 approved disinvestment in the navratna PSU. The stake sale would happen through the OFS or auction route. The paid-up capital of the company as on March 2012 stood at Rs1,288.62 crore. The government estimates to collect Rs24,000 crore from disinvestment in the current fiscal and has already raised Rs21,500 crore.
On Tuesday, the EGoM had deferred the disinvestment of Minerals and Metals Trading Corp.’s (MMTC) 9.33% stake on concerns of its valuations.
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