MOIL share sale sees robust retail demand; govt nets Rs 480 crore

New Delhi: Government's 10 percent stake sale in manganese miner MOIL on Wednesday saw a robust response from retail investors who put in bids for over 5 times the shares reserved for them, ensuring Rs 480 crore to the exchequer.

Retail investors bid for over 1.42 crore shares as against 26.63 lakh shares or 5.3 times the number reserved for them in the two-day offer for sale which closed today.

Retail investors are being given 5 percent discount to the share allotment price.

The portion allocated to institutional investors yesterday was bid 1.51 times as bids worth Rs 580 crore poured in on the first day of the issue.

Overall, government sold 1.33 crore shares through the OFS route at a floor price of Rs 365.

With all-round participation from institutional and retail buyers, MOIL share sale is expected to garner Rs 480 crore to the government after shares are alloted to the bidders.

Finance Ministry officials said the response of retail investors in MOIL share sale was "encouraging" and much better than the general trends in other OFS.

MOIL stock closed at Rs 372.30, up 1.10 percent, on the BSE.

The government currently holds 75.58 percent in MOIL, formerly known as Manganese Ore India Ltd. Earlier this fiscal, the government had raised about Rs 794 crore through share buyback of MOIL.

MOIL is the fourth disinvestment through the OFS route in the current fiscal. The government had sold 15 percent in NBCC to mobilise Rs 2,200 crore in October, 7 per cent in Hindustan Copper to raise Rs 400 crore in September and 11.36 percent in NHPC to garner Rs 2,716 crore in April.

About Rs 30,000 crore have been raised through minority share sale by way of OFS, share buyback and CPSE ETF so far in the current fiscal.

Last week, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) launched the second tranche of CPSE Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), which was over-subscribed 2 times. The sale fetched Rs 6,000 crore to the exchequer.