Over half a dozen tractor manufacturers in the country, including Mahindra & Mahindra, New Holland, Escorts Ltd and Eicher Motors, today submitted expressions of interest (EoIs) for the disinvestment of government shareholding in Punjab Tractors Ltd.
Today was the last date for submission of EoIs, and the response has been resounding and all major tractor manufacturers have evinced interest, said a government official involved in the disvestment process. He declined to give the exact number of filings, but said it was over half a dozen.
The Punjab government has invited EoIs for a 23.49 per cent stake in Punjab Tractors, which has been put on sale by the promoter, Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation (PSIDC).
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Financial institutions are the majority stakeholder with 43.16 per cent shareholding while 19.74 per cent equity is with the public.
However, after the divestment, the strategic investor will become the largest shareholder since it will also have to make an open offer for a 20 per cent additional shareholding through a public offer as per Sebi guidelines.
The state government is being advised on the divestment by KPMG India. The EoIs were invited by the global advisor on behalf of the government.
The global advisor has also set Rs 200 crore as minimum networth as the as the eligibility criterion for the bidder or the consortium of bidders.
Punjab Tractors has about 18.4 per cent market share in the country