Govt to sell Nalco stake on Friday

Plans to raise around Rs 1,400 crore

The Finance Ministry on Wednesday said the government’s 12.5 per cent stake sale offer in Nalco will hit the markets on March 15, which could mop up around Rs 1,400 crore to the exchequer.

The share sale through OFS route will be held on Friday, Disinvestment Secretary Ravi Mathur told reporters after a EGoM meeting.

The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on disinvestment, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram met on Wednesday and decided on the base price for the share sale.
He, however, did not disclose the base price for the issue.

The sale of 12.5 per cent stake, or 31.31 crore shares, of Nalco is expected to fetch around Rs 1,400 crore to the exchequer at the current market price. Shares of Nalco closed at Rs 46.30, up 2.32 per cent over previous close on the BSE.

The Department of Disinvestment (DoD) has held roadshows in Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, the US and the UK on February 19 for disinvestment of the state-run aluminium company.

The government currently holds 87.15 per cent stake in Nalco and post disinvestment, it will come down to 75 per cent. The government had in November last year deferred disinvestment of Nalco citing poor second-quarter performance which raised valuation concerns and said the stake sale would happen only after the third quarter results.

The aluminium major reported 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 National Aluminium Company (Nalco) 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 disinvestment.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had in September approved disinvestment in the Navratna PSU. The stake sale would happen through the Offer for Sale (OFS) or auction route. The paid-up capital of the company as on March, 2012 stood at Rs 1,288.62 crore.

The government estimates to collect Rs 24,000 crore from disinvestment in the current fiscal and has already raised Rs 21,500 crore.