As many as four players including Sterlite Industries and Birla Copper are in the fray for acquiring majority stake in Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL), initial bids for which closed last week.
There are four players in the race for government stake in HCL, official sources told a news agency. The others include International Mining Giant Metdist and Finolex Cables.
Government will offload its entire 98.7 per cent stake in copper major to a strategic partner along with management control.
It has mandated A F Ferguson to act as global advisor in place of IDBI-Sumitomo bank combine. Government had earlier scrapped a plan to hive off HCL's Taloja and Khetri units into a separate company before inducting a strategic partner.
The plan fell through as the bidders found the proposal unattractive and they in turn asked the government to undertake a financial restructuring exercise to improve the company's balance sheet.
Government will soon shortlist the bidders prior to the start of due diligence exercise. Bureau Report