New Delhi, March 7 (PTI): The government has decided to sell a 10 per cent stake in Gail (India) Limited at Rs 195 per share to mop up Rs 1,620 crore. Retail investors would get the shares at a discounted price of Rs 185.25 each.
The issue, which closed on Friday, was oversubscribed by 9.28 times, said sources associated with the selloff process. Share allotments would start following approvals from the ministries of finance, disinvestment and petroleum, the government said in a statement.
As much as 57.5 per cent of the 84.56 million shares offered would be alloted to retail bidders, employees and non-institutional bidders.
While retail investors (those bidding for less than Rs 50,000) would get 27.5 per cent of the issue size at the discounted price, employees would be allotted 5 per cent of the issue. Affluent individuals or non-institutional bidders would get 25 per cent, while the remaining would go to qualified institutional bidders.
Gail scrip closed at Rs 214.70 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday.
The government had fixed a floor price of Rs 185 per share for the public issue done through the book-building route.
When contacted, Union petroleum minister Ram Naik said, “This is yet another indication of the investors’ confidence in the government’s oil sector. I am very happy at the response.”
Naik, who was the first person in 2002 to profess selling government equity in public sector oil firms through public issues, said, “This will be a red-letter day in Gail’s history and still better results would be available when ONGC’s final subscription is known.”
The ONGC public offer, from which the government expects to mop up at least Rs 10,000 crore, would close this week.