Concluding the largest ever disinvestment, the Centre on Friday raised Rs 22,557.63 crore from the sale of its 10 per cent shareholding in Coal India (CIL).
The issue was however, under-subscribed in the retail investors segment; Government-owned insurance companies bought huge proportion of the shares, said sources.
Government offered the shares at an auction on the stock exchanges at a floor price of Rs. 358 per share, which was 4.5 per cent less than the closing price on Thursday. The sale was concluded at an indicative price of Rs 358.5 a share that was only slightly higher than the floor price.
Of the total proceeds raised, Rs 11,360.11 crore came from insurance companies — both private sector and public sector including the Government-owned Life Insurance Corporation, the official release said.
Five per cent discount
The Government had offered a five per cent discount to retail investors on price bids. Rs 1852.55 crore was received from retail investors, the largest in any Government Offer for Sale (OFS) so far and Rs 603.11 crore from Mutual Funds. The retail portion was subscribed only about 44 per cent.
The CIL disinvestment, however, attracted the largest Foreign Institutional Investors participation, Coal Secretary Aradhana Johri told presspersons. This is likely to have exceeded Rs 5,000 crore, but final figures were not available, Ms. Johri said.
With Friday’s divestment, the Centre’s shareholding in CIL stands at 79.65 per cent.
