Govt to sell up to 7.5% in NMDC via OFS on Tuesday, may get Rs 3,621 cr

Will sell its 4% stake, or 117.2 million shares, at a floor price of Rs 165 each, a near 6% discount to Monday's closing price

The government will sell about 7.49 per cent stake in NMDC Ltd through an offer for sale (OFS) on Tuesday, in a move that will help the exchequer in mopping up over Rs 3,621 crore in divestment receipts.

The government will sell its 4 per cent stake or 117.2 million shares in the iron ore producer at a floor price of Rs 165 each. The floor price has been set at a nearly 6 per cent discount to Monday’s closing price. The OFS also includes a greenshoe option to sell an additional 3.49 per cent shareholding or 102.2 million shares of the public sector undertaking (PSU).

The entire 7.49 per cent stake sale is likely to fetch the government about Rs 3,621 crore, and will reduce its shareholding in the company to 60.8 per cent.

The OFS will open for institutional investors on July 6, and such non-retail investors will get an option to carry forward their unallocated bids to the next day for allocation from the unsubscribed portion for retail investors. The issue will open for retail investors on July 7.

The sale would help the government in moving ahead with its divestment plan as the impact of second wave of Covid-19 wanes, and it looks to achieve its ambitious Rs 1.75 trillion target for the ongoing fiscal.