SAIL issue oversubscribed - Times of India

The author has posted comments on this article M Allirajan, TNN | Dec 5, 2014, 04.41PM IST

COIMBATORE: The offer for sale (OFS) by Steel Authority of India (SAIL) has been oversubscribed. The 5 per cent stake sale in the public sector steel major, the first by the new government, would raise around Rs 1700 crore.

While the retail portion was subscribed 162.49 per cent at 3pm, the non-retail portion was subscribed 128.73 per cent. The retail category of 2.06 crore shares got bids for around 3.36 crore shares, data with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) showed.

The general category of 18.6 crore shares attracted bids for about 26.6 crore shares, BSE data showed.

The floor or minimum offer price for SAIL's share sale was set at Rs 83 apiece, which is 2.75 per cent lower than the closing price on Thursday. At the floor price of Rs 83, a 5 per cent stake or over 20.65 crore shares would garner Rs 1714 crore to the exchequer. The government now holds 80 per cent stake in SAIL.

While 10 per cent of the shares on offer were reserved for retail investors, who can buy stocks worth up to Rs 2 lakh, a minimum of 25 per cent of the issue size was reserved for mutual funds and insurance companies. Retail investors were offered a 5 per cent discount on the bid price.

The government has lined up stake sales in a host of PSUs. Coal India, ONGC and NHPC are among the PSUs where the government is planning to dilute its stake. The SAIL scrip, which hit a low of Rs 82.7 on the BSE intra-day, is trading at Rs 82.7 at 3.30pm.