Ahead of IDBI Bank’s privatisation, the government has reached out to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to relax the minimum public shareholding (MPS) norms for the bank for two years.
As per the current rules, a listed firm requires to have at least 25 per cent public shareholding within three years of being listed. However, this rule was not applicable to IDBI Bank even though it was listed because it’s a state-run enterprise.
Now that the bank is being privatised, it needs to have a public shareholding. But as the government seeks additional two years to comply with the minimum public holding rule, it will have five years in hand, a report by The Economic Times said.
"We have received inputs during our roadshows with investors, and also from merchant bankers. These suggestions have been shared with both banking and market regulator," a government official aware of the discussions told the publication.
"RBI has designated IDBI as a private bank. The government also treats it as a private sector lender,” an official said, adding that this is a unique case. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) categorised IDBI Bank as ‘Private Sector Bank’ for regulatory purposes from January 21, 2019.
The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) is likely to invite preliminary bids for selling a stake in IDBI Bank by end of September along with the completion of privatisation of the bank in this fiscal year.
"Since IDBI Bank would be first of its kind with regard to privatisation in the banking sector, we are expecting a lot of investor queries to come in once the Expression of Interest (EoI) is floated. The stake sale is unlikely to conclude this fiscal," an official told PTI.
Currently, the government holds 45.48 per cent in the bank, and Life Insurance Corp of India, which is currently the promoter of the bank, owns a 49.24 per cent stake.
(With agency inputs)