The government has decided to sell a 9.33 per cent stake in MMTC on Thursday, June 13, and has fixed the floor price at Rs 60 apiece, which will fetch the exchequer about Rs 600 crore.
"We will divest 9.33 per cent in MMTC tomorrow through OFS route," Disinvestment Secretary Ravi Mathur told reporters in Delhi.
The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, has fixed the base price at Rs 60 apiece for MMTC disinvestment, an official source told PTI.
The stake sale in MMTC, said a top Commerce Ministry official, would fetch the government around Rs 600 crore.
MMTC disinvestment would be the first stake sale of the government in the current fiscal. The government aims to raise Rs 40,000 crore from PSU stake sale in 2013-14.
Shares in MMTC ended at Rs 211.45 a piece on the BSE, up 2.92 per cent over the previous close.
There is a huge difference between the floor price and the market price of MMTC as the scrip is illiquid, a disinvestment department official said.
The government currently holds 99.33 per cent stake in state-run trading giant and the stake sale would help the company to meet Securities and Exchange Board of India-given norms on minimum public shareholding.
The stake sale, which was originally slated to take place in March, was deferred on valuation concerns.
Since the company's audited results are out now and after reviewing the final balance sheet for the last fiscal year, the disinvestment department would be able to decide on the base price for the OFS.
In fiscal year 2012-13, MMTC reported a loss of Rs 70.62 crore, due to 57 per cent decline in total revenues during the period as compared to previous fiscal. The company had reported a profit of Rs 70.72 crore in 2011-12.
The department of divestment (DoD) had shortlisted three investment bankers - Avendus, IDBI Capital Market Services and IDFC - to manage the 9.33 crore shares or 9.33 per cent stake sale of the PSU.
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
