NBCC share sale fully subscribed

The Rs 2,200-crore share sale in state-owned construction firm NBCC (India) on Thursday was subscribed 1.22 times. The 90-million share offer for sale (OFS) received more than 110 million bids, data provided by stock exchanges showed.

With this, the government has successfully sold 15 per cent stake in NBCC, reducing its holding to 75 per cent.

Bulk of the bids in the NBCC share sale came from state-owned insurance companies and banks, said people in the know. The government had set a base price of Rs 246.5 per share, while most of the bids came at Rs 246.73, data provided showed. Shares of NBCC ended at Rs 251 on the BSE.

Around 20 per cent, or 18 million shares in the OFS are reserved for retail (small) investors, which will be auctioned on Friday. In case the retail portion remains undersubscribed, the shares will be allotted to other categories of investors. Retail investors are being offered an additional discount of five per cent. The non-retail portion has been subscribed 1.23 times.

NBCC was 2016-17’s third disinvestment by the government through the OFS route. So far this financial year, the government has raised a total of Rs 5,317 crore by selling its holdings in three public sector undertakings (PSUs). Besides divestment, the government has also mobilised money by share buybacks in PSUs including Nalco (National Aluminium Company) and Moil.

Last month, the Centre sold seven per cent stake in Hindustan Copper to raise Rs 400 crore through the OFS route. In April, it had sold 11.3 per cent stake in NHPC, which had helped it raise nearly Rs 2,717 crore.

Axis Capital, Citigroup Global Markets, and Nomura Financial Advisory were among the investment banks that handled the NBCC share sale.