OFS keeps its charm, fund raising climbs 4 times to Rs 27k cr

Fund-raising through offer-for-sale (OFS) mechanism surged nearly four times to a staggering around Rs 27,000 crore in 2014-15, riding mainly on the mega share sale of Coal India (CIL).
According to the latest data, companies mopped up Rs 26,935 crore through the OFS route in 2014-15, way higher than the Rs 6,859 crore in the preceding year.
In 2012-13, firms raked in a record Rs 28,024 crore using this tool.
As many as 28 companies tapped the OFS mechanism in the past financial year to March-end, compared with 79 in 2013-14.
But the higher fund-raising last fiscal is primarily because of the CIL stake sale that brought in as much as Rs 22,558 crore.

This was the biggest share sale by any private or public sector company in India and exceeds the previous record of over Rs 15,000 crore made by Coal India itself in 2010.

But, in 2010, the funds were raised through an initial public offering (IPO).
The OFS method allows the companies to sell shares in a simplified process in the stock market through a one-day auction process.
The mechanism was introduced by market regulator Sebi in early 2012 to help companies meet the requirement of minimum public shareholding limit -- 25 per cent for private sector firms by June 2013 and 10 per cent for PSUs by August this year.

Experts believe that attractive pricing and buoyant market conditions are behind the success of recent OFS issues.
The BSE benchmark Sensex has gained nearly 25 per cent in 2104-15.