Bharat Electronics stake sale: Govt raises Rs1,600 crore
1 min read 23 Feb 2017, 06:44 PM ISTThe govt raised over Rs1,600 crore from its 5%stake sale in Bharat Electronics after retail investors bid more than 3.6 times the shares offered to them
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New Delhi: The government on Thursday raised over Rs1,600 crore from its 5%stake sale in Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) after retail investors bid more than 3.6 times the shares offered to them. Retail investors bid for over 81.87 lakh shares, or 3.67 times, of the 22.33 lakh shares on offer, as per NSE data.
Individual investors bid for over 2.09 crore shares as against 89.34 lakh shares, or 2.34 times, the number reserved for them in the two-day offer for sale which closed on Thursday. The portion allocated to institutional investors was bid 2.34 times on Wednesday, with subscription worth Rs3,100 crore on the first day of the issue.
Overall, the government sold 1.11 crore shares through the OFS route at a floor price of Rs1,498. With all-round participation from institutional and retail buyers in BEL stake sale, the government is set to garner Rs1,600 crore once shares are alloted to the bidders.
Finance ministry officials said BEL stake sale saw “record bidding" in both institutional and retail category. In last three disinvestment, retail portion was over-subscribed heavily. BEL stock closed at Rs1,507.10, down 0.21%, on the BSE on Thursday. The government currently holds 74.41% in BEL. Earlier this fiscal, the government had raised about Rs1,800 crore through share buyback of BEL.
With the BEL stake sale, government’s disinvestment kitty would swell to nearly Rs33,000 crore. The government hopes to raise Rs45,500 crore in the current fiscal as per Revised Estimate (RE). BEL is the second government OFS in 2017, the last being the sale of its 10% stake in Manganese Ore (India) Ltd (MOIL) raising Rs480 crore. The government had sold 15% in NBCC to mobilise Rs2,200 crore in October 2016, 7% in Hindustan Copper to raise Rs400 crore in September and 11.36% in NHPC to garner Rs2,716 crore in April.
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