Institutional portion of Bharat Electronics share sale subscribed two times

Govt is divesting 5% in BEL at Rs 1,498 a share; retail sale on Thursday

The Rs 1,670-crore share sale in Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) garnered encouraging response on Wednesday, with the institutional investors' portion getting subscribed more than two times.

The government is divesting five per cent stake in BEL through an offer for sale (OFS) at a floor price of Rs 1,498 per share as a part of 2016-17 disinvestment programme. The 2.23 million shares for retail investors will be auctioned on Thursday. The government currently holds 74.41 per cent in BEL.

On Wednesday, the OFS attracted bids 20.9 million bids as against 8.9 million on offer. In case there is a shortfall in the retail demand, the shares will be allotted to institutional investors.

LIC was among the bidders, said people in the know.

Shares of BEL ended 3.2 per cent lower at Rs 1,510 in the secondary market trading.

Retail investors are being offered fiver per cent discount on the cut-off price.

The OFS was managed by SBICAP Securities, ICICI Securities, Edelweiss Securities and Deutsche Equities India.

Earlier this fiscal, the government had raised about Rs 1,800 crore through share buyback of BEL.

The government has raised around Rs 31,000 crore so far this fiscal towards its 2016-17 disinvestment kitty.

BEL is the second government OFS in 2017, the last being the sale of its 10 per cent in Manganese Ore (India) (MOIL) raising Rs 480 crore.