The government will sell a 15% stake in state-owned fertiliser and industrial chemicals maker National Fertilizers Ltd as part of its disinvestment plan for 2017-18.
National Fertilizers told stock exchanges on Tuesday that the government will sell 73.58 million shares through an offer for sale. The two-day offering will open on Wednesday.
The floor price of Rs 72.80 apiece, which is at a 7.7% discount to Tuesday’s closing price on the BSE, will fetch the government Rs 535.71 crore ($83 million).
According to the stock exchange filing, retail investors will get an additional 5% discount on their bid price.
Following the sale, the government’s stake in National Fertilizers will fall to 74.71% from 89.71% as on June 2017. With this, the company will also meet the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s 25% minimum public holding norms for listed companies.
In June 2014, the market regulator had mandated all listed public-sector undertakings to reduce the government’s stake to 75% – the same as the promoter-holding threshold set for listed private firms in 2010.
This deadline was extended earlier this month by one year to August 2018.
The government will also sell shares in Cochin Shipyard Ltd through an IPO next week. The Centre is looking to garner about Rs 488 crore through the public offering that will result in a 25% stake dilution.
The government is aiming to raise a record Rs 72,500 crore through disinvestment. This includes minority stake sales and strategic disinvestment as well as through listing of state-owned companies, including insurance firms.
So far this fiscal year, the government has mobilised about Rs 6,700 crore by selling minority stakes in half a dozen companies.
Last month, the Centre had sold a 2.6% stake in engineering giant Larsen & Toubro Ltd, which was held via SUUTI, for Rs 4,158 crore. It has also sold a 10% stake via an IPO in housing and urban infrastructure financier Hudco Ltd.
