MOIL IPO dates advanced; pre-road shows from Oct 21

The government is likely to advance an intial public offer (IPO) of Manganese Ore India (MOIL) to November 26 to realign a series of initial offers by PSUs which will follow the mammoth share sale of Coal India, an official said.

"The dates have been advanced to November 26 while realigning schedules of public offers of other companies like Power Grid, Hindustan Copper etc. The pre-roadshow for MOIL would commence from October 21," a government official told PTI, on condition of anonymity.

The share sale was originally scheduled to open on November 29.

The roadshows will commence in Mumbai on October 21. A team comprising officials from MOIL, the Department of Disinvestment and the Ministry of Steel will leave on 24th for Singapore, the official said.

Last month, MOIL had filed draft papers with market regulator Sebi for its IPO.

Nagpur-based public sector miner will see a total disinvestment of 20 per cent-- the Centre will offload its 10 per cent stake, while Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra governments will dilute 5 per cent each.

At present, the Centre holds 81.57 per cent in the company, Maharashtra 9.62 per cent and Madhya Pradesh 8.81 per cent stake.

Post IPO, Centre's equity in MOIL will come down to 71.57 per cent, while that of the Maharashtra government will reduce to 4.62 per cent. Madhya Pradesh government will be left with 3.81 per cent share in the company.

It is not yet clear how much amount the share sale would generate. Analysts, however, said it could be in the range of Rs 3,000-4,000 crore.

Earlier in September, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had cleared the stake sale proposal by the state-run firm.

Edelweiss Capital, IDBI Capital and JP Morgan are the book running lead manager to the issue, sources said.

Manganese Ore operates 10 mines, six of which are located in Nagpur and Bhandara districts in Maharashtra, and four in Balaghat district of MP. It had a net profit of Rs 240 crore in 2009-10, while its net worth stood at Rs 1,587 crore.

The government aims to raise Rs 40,000 crore through divestment this fiscal. The other disinvestment candidates for FY10 include Coal India, MMTC, and Hindustan Copper, this fiscal. Last fiscal it had raised Rs 25,000 crore through stake sale in Oil India, NMDC, REC and NTPC.