BEL share sale: Govt nets Rs 1,670 cr on robust demand

The government's 5 per cent stake sale in Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) saw enthusiastic response from retail and institutional buyers, bringing Rs 1,670 crore to the exchequer.
Overall, the government sold 1.11 crore shares through the OFS route at a floor price of Rs 1,498. "The issue has been over-subscribed by 260 per cent. The likely receipt to the Government of India from BEL OFS is Rs 1,670 crore," the finance ministry said.
The portion of non-retail investors, including domestic and foreign institutional investors, was over-subscribed 2.34 times, while retail part was subscribed 3.67 times.
"This is one of the highest instances of interest and participation shown by the investors including domestic and foreign institutional investors and retail investors in any issue," the finance ministry said in a statement.

Retail investors, for whom the bidding opened today, bid for over 81.87 lakh shares, or 3.67 times of the 22.33 lakh shares on offer.
The issue was open for institutional bidding yesterday who put in bids worth Rs 3,081 crore with LIC alone subscribing Rs 1,435 crore.

BEL stock closed at Rs 1,507.10, down 0.21 per cent, on the BSE today.
The government currently holds 74.41 per cent in BEL. Earlier this fiscal, the government had raised about Rs 1,800 crore through share buyback of BEL.
With the BEL stake sale, the government's disinvestment kitty would swell to nearly Rs 33,000 crore. The government hopes to raise Rs 45,500 crore in the current fiscal as per Revised Estimate (RE).

BEL is the second government OFS in 2017, the last being the sale of its 10 per cent stake in Manganese Ore (India) Ltd (MOIL) raising Rs 480 crore.
The government had sold 15 per cent in NBCC to mobilise Rs 2,200 crore in October 2016, 7 per cent in Hindustan Copper to raise Rs 400 crore in September and 11.36 per cent in NHPC to garner Rs 2,716 crore in April.