SAIL's 5 percent divestment offer successful, over-subscribed 266 times

The government's divestment of five percent of its stake in steel major SAIL was successfully concluded Friday, with the exchequer expected to garner over Rs.1,700 crore from the single-day offer.

According to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the government gave the retail Investors a discount of five percent to the bid price. The floor price of the offer was set at Rs.83 per equity share.

The BSE data showed that the retail 'Offer for Sale' (OFS) was over subscribed by 266.17 percent, while the non-retail portion was overbid by 162.45 percent.

Earlier, the government submitted a copy of 'notice of offer' for sale of up to five percent of the total paid up equity share capital of SAIL (Steel Authority of India Limited) through a separate window provided by the BSE and NSE.

The scrip of the steel major at the BSE ended Friday's trade 2.55 points or 2.99 percent down at Rs.82.80.

The government is hopeful of collecting nearly Rs.43,425 crore from the disinvestment of several PSUs like SAIL this fiscal. It has set a target of collecting Rs.57,000 crore before April through disinvestments.

In July 2012, the government approved a 10.82 per cent stake sale in SAIL, of which the first tranche was completed in March 2013.