New Delhi: Shares of Nalco plunged over 8 percent on the BSE in the trade Friday as the government's up to 10 percent stake sale of the PSU firm commenced on the bourses.
The floor or the minimum offer price for Nalco's share sale has been set at Rs 40 apiece, which was a 10 percent discount to yesterday's close of Rs 44.65.
On the BSE, Nalco scrip hit a low of Rs 44.50, down 8.36 percent over previous close, soon after the start of market hours. It continued to trade in the range of Rs 40.55-41.90 in the early hours, higher than the base price.
At the floor price of Rs 40, a 10 percent stake sale in Nalco could garner around Rs 1,031 crore to the exchequer.
The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on disinvestment, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, had on Wednesday cleared stake sale of 25.77 crore shares, or up to 10 percent, in Nalco through the Offer For Sale (OFS).
The government is selling 5 percent stake, with an option to retain another 5 percent of the over-subscription.
The number of shares on offer is lower than what the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had approved for in September last year. The CCEA had cleared a 12.5 percent stake sale in the Navratna PSU.
The Department of Disinvestment (DoD) has held roadshows in Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, the US and the UK last month for disinvestment of the state-run aluminium company.
At present, the government holds 87.15 percent stake in Nalco.
The stake sale was deferred in November last year as the government wanted to wait for the company's third quarter earnings to get a better valuation.
Nalco posted a more than two-fold jump in its October- December quarter net profit to Rs 118.94 crore, on the back of improved sales. The company had a profit of Rs 51.22 crore in the same period last fiscal.
Enam Securities, SBI Caps and IDFC are merchant bankers for the Nalco share sale offer.
The government estimates to collect Rs 24,000 crore from disinvestment in the current fiscal and has already raised over Rs 21,800 crore so far.
PTI
First Published: Friday, March 15, 2013, 09:31