Govt fixes floor price of Oil India stake sale at Rs 510, auction tomorrow

Government has fixed the floor or minimum price for 10 per cent stake sale in Oil India at Rs 510 per share, a 5.41 per cent discount to its current market rate, to garner Rs 3,065 crore for the exchequer.

The government proposes to sell 6.01 crore shares or 10 per cent stake in the state explorer through offer for sale (OFS) route and the auction would take place tomorrow.

The OIL public offer, the third disinvestment this fiscal, will help the government inch towards its Rs 30,000 crore revenue target from stake sales in profit making PSUs.

In a filing to the BSE, OIL said "the floor price for the sale in terms of the Sebi OFS guidelines shall be Rs 510 per equity share of Oil India Ltd (the Floor Price)".

The price is at a 5.41 per cent discount to the current market price. Shares of OIL closed at Rs 539.20, up 2.29 per cent over previous close on the BSE.

At Rs 510 apiece, the stake sale of 6.01 crore shares would fetch Rs 3,065 crore to the exchequer.

The decision on the floor price and date of the share sale was decided yesterday by the Empowered Group of Ministers, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram. However, the pricing was revealed only after close of market hours today.

The government holds 78.43 per cent stake in the company and would come down to 68.43 per cent, after disinvestment.

OIL's paid-up capital as on March 2012, was Rs 601 crore.

As per the disinvestment roadmap of the government, OIL issue was initially slated to happen in the last week of January, to be followed by one PSU stake sale every fortnight.

The government has so far raised Rs 6,900 crore through disinvestment in the current fiscal.

... contd.

ALSO READ

BlackBerry Messenger-WhatsApp manipulation: Sebi eyes crackdown

Q4 results, IIP data to drive markets this week: Experts

Market review: BSE Sensex ends higher for 3rd consecutive week, up 289 pts

BSE Sensex declines 160 points on RBI's 'hawkish' policy stance