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Government Sells 9.2% Stake In Nalco, Raises Rs 1,200 Crore

The government has set a target of Rs 15,000 crORE from strategic stake sales in FY18.



A laborer transports aluminum sections on tricycle trailer in Ahmadabad, Gujarat, India. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)
A laborer transports aluminum sections on tricycle trailer in Ahmadabad, Gujarat, India. (Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg)

The government on Thursday raised over Rs 1,200 crore through the sale of 9.2 percent stake in National Aluminium Company Ltd. (Nalco) as both retail and institutional investors lapped up the shares offered to them.

The first share sale by the government in the current fiscal, Nalco also saw the government exercising the option to retain excess subscription, also known as the greenshoe option.

The issue had hit the market on Wednesday with 5 percent shares on offer, and the government exercised the greenshoe option after seeing investor demand on day one of the offer for sale.

With bids nearly twice the shares on offer, the subscription of institutional investors was valued at Rs 954 crore. The offer for sale opened for retail investor subscription on Thursday and was lapped up more than three times the shares reserved for them valued at Rs 250 crore. Together, the bids are valued at over Rs 1,200 crore.

Of its total holding of 74.58 percent in Nalco, the government has offloaded 9.2 percent at a floor price of Rs 67.

Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Neeraj Gupta said the government was confident of retail investor demand and hence had exercised the greenshoe option keeping in mind the last four disinvestments. "Today's response validates our market assessment," he added.

The Nalco stock closed at Rs 68.10, up 0.52 percent over its previous close, on BSE.

The government has set a target of Rs 46,500 crore through minority stake sale and Rs 15,000 crore from strategic disinvestment in financial year 2017-18. In 2016-17, the government had raised over Rs 46,247 crore from disinvestment.