Aradhana Johri
IOC gets bids worth Rs 11,107 crore for its 10% stake sale
Institutional investors saved the day for the government as the Indian Oil Corporation disinvestment sailed through amid a stock market crash.ET Bureau | August 25, 2015, 08:07 IST
NEW DELHI: The government on Monday said the 10% stake sale in Indian Oil Corporation, the country's biggest oil refiner, got bids worth Rs 11,107 crore and the issue was oversubscribed by 18% or 1.18 times.
Institutional investors saved the day for the government as the Indian Oil Corporation disinvestment sailed through amid a stock market crash.
READ ALSO: ​Biggest disinvestment of IOC worth Rs 9300 cr to take place today
Disinvestment secretary Aradhana Johri said the institutional portion was oversubscribed by 143% amounting to Rs 10,780 crore, while the retail participation was merely of around Rs 344 crore, oversubscribed by more than 18%.
"Retail investors were affected by market situation," said Johri referring to the 6% slump in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex, the biggest percentage fall since 2009.
"Individual investors have gone by market sentiment even though the offer price for them (Rs 367.65) was lower than the price at which IOC closed (Rs 378) on the stock market today," she added.
The government is expected to raise around Rs 9,300 crore from the stake sale. So far in this fiscal, the government has raised around Rs 12,600 crore, or a little less than one fifth of the yearly target of Rs 69,500 crore.
"We are happy we have managed to get the stock which I think is intrinsically very good despite hugely adverse market conditions... it's not been an easy but ultimately the issue has been oversubscribed," added Johri.
When asked, if last minute calls were made to public sector institutions such as banks, and Life Insurance Corporation to bail out the issue, Johri said calls were made to all investors.
"Calls are made to every investor by us, by our merchant bankers in a situation of crisis like this to every actor. We even spoke to stock exchanges," she said.
Johri said her department has taken a list of approvals for stake sale and will have a relook at the market situation before proceeding any further.
Tags : Industry, Sensex, Retail investors, M&A, Indian Oil Corporation, Disinvestment, BSE, Aradhana Johri