Market crash dampens mood for Indian Oil stake sale

The carnage in the global equities market had its effect on stake sale in the state-run oil refiner-retailer Indian Oil Corp that was subscribed around 55 percent, four hours after bidding began at 9:15 pm. The stock was also quoting below the floor price.

At 1:15 p.m., bids were received for 13.96 crore shares, representing 57.5 percent of the 24.28 crore shares which the government proposes to divest at a floor price of Rs.387 a piece. At the Bombay Stock Exchange, around that time, the company's share was quoting at Rs.380.45.

The retail portion barely managed around 6 percent, even though the government has offered set aside 20 percent of the shares for them at a discount of 5 of the Cut off price. The non-retail portion fared better with around 70 percent subscription.

Bidding closes at 3:30 p.m.

The current government holding in Indian Oil Corp, the largest oil retailer in thde country, is 68.57 percent and the proposal is for divesting another 10 percent to raise at least Rs.9,400 crore, taking into accout the floor price of Rs.387 per share.