Engineers India FPO to hit market on Feb 6

Govt to sell 10% stake, sale expected to fetch Rs 500 crore

The follow-on public offer (FPO) of Engineers India Ltd (EIL) will hit the capital market on February 6, a top official said today.
    
The government will sell 10 per cent stake in Engineers India Ltd (EIL) through FPO route, that is expected to fetch Rs 500 crore.
    
"The FPO will open on February 6. It will remain open for three days," Petroleum Secretary Vivek Rae told reporters here.
    

The Empowered Group of Ministers, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, today decided on the price band and timing of the issue.
     
The price band will be disclosed after the close of market hours today, Rae said.

    
The Department of Disinvestment has already held overseas roadshows to attract foreign investors to the EIL stake sale.
     
The government plans to sell 3.36 crore EIL shares, with up to 5 per cent of the offer reserved for employees.
     
ICICI Securities, IDFC and Kotak Mahindra Capital, Edelweiss Financial Services and IDBI Capital are managing the disinvestment.
    
The government holds 80.4 per cent in the 'miniratna' public sector undertaking. In 2010, it had divested 10 per cent of its stake in EIL through an FPO.
     
In January last year, the government decided to go in for further disinvestment in EIL, which is a leading provider of design, engineering and project management and consultancy services for the hydrocarbon sector.

    
The government plans to raise Rs 40,000 crore by way of disinvestment in the current financial year. So far, it has raised about Rs 3,000 crore through PSU stake sales.
    
Shares of EIL were trading at Rs 150.15, up 3.87 per cent on the BSE. It touched an intra-day high of Rs 155.50 apiece.