SAIL OFS subscribed over 61%; stock off 4-year lows

NEW DELHI: State-owned steel major SAIL's issue has been subscribed about 61.33 per cent of the total stake that is on Offer For Sale at 1455 hours, amounting to bids worth Rs 928.84 crore.

The OFS of SAIL shares, which started at 9.15 am, had received total bids for 14,74,34,731 shares at the floor price of Rs 63 per share till 1455 hours.

Market experts said that response has been on the expected lines and rest of the shares will also get subscribed during the remaining period of the auction, which is open till 3.30 pm today. After that final price and allocation would be determined.

The company scrip, at Rs 63.45 on the BSE at 1500 hours, was down 0.70 per cent from its previous close.

The government, which is selling its 5.82 per cent stake in the company, would garner about Rs 1,514 crore from the stake sale, if it gets fully subscribed.

The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on disinvestment, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, yesterday decided on pricing of 24.03 crore share or 5.82 per cent stake sale of the country's largest steel producer through the OFS route.

The auction, if subscribed fully, would take the proceeds from disinvestment in this fiscal to at least Rs 23,800 crore, the highest ever realisation on disinvestment front in a single year. It would be, however, a tad less than the revised estimates of Rs 24,000 crore.

SAIL stock has lost 8 per cent in the last one week and over 30 per cent since March last year.

The government currently holds 85.82 per cent stake in the company.