The government’s offer-for-sale (OFS) of up to 5% stake in Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) got over-subscribed on day one of the offer, with institutional investors putting in ₹3,800 crore bids.
The government is selling 4 crore shares or 5% stake in IRCTC at a floor price of ₹680 a share in the two-day OFS. The floor price was at a discount of 7% over yesterday’s closing price of ₹734.70.
IRCTC shares closed at ₹689.20 apiece, down 6.19% on the BSE today. During the day, the scrip touched a low of ₹687, but held above the OFS floor price of ₹680.
At that price, offloading 5% of IRCTC could fetch around ₹2,720 crore.
The OFS consists of base issue size of 2 crore shares or 2.5% stake, with an option to retain over-subscription of similar amount.
Around 10% of the issue is reserved for retail investors, for whom bidding would open tomorrow.
Bids for more than 5.55 crore shares, representing 3.08 times the base issue size of 1.80 crore shares were put in by institutional investors today. Calculated on the basis of the floor price, the bids would be valued at about ₹3,800 crore.
IRCTC is the only firm authorised by the Indian Railways to manage food services on trains and offer online railway ticket booking services.
The Centre holds 67.40% stake in IRCTC. Proceeds from the state-owned firm’s OFS will add to the disinvestment kitty of the government.
Last month, the government received ₹3,839 crore from the sale of Axis Bank Ltd (AXBK.NS) shares held by a government-investment vehicle.
The government has already raised ₹28,383 crore from CPSE stake sale till now this financial year against the full year budget target of ₹65,000 crore.
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