IRCTC shares tumble 13% as government's stake sale via OFS begins

The promoter proposes to sell up to 24 million equity shares of IRCTC, representing up to 15 per cent stake, with an option to additionally sell 5 per cent of the total equity capital

Shares of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) slipped 13 per cent to Rs 1,405 on the BSE on Thursday as the government's proposed stake sale of up to 20 per cent equity shares via an offer for sale (OFS) began today.

The government would divest 15 per cent equity with a 5 per cent green shoe option. The floor price for the offer fixed at Rs 1,367 per share, a 16 per cent discount to Wednesday’s closing price of Rs 1,618 on the BSE. The OFS opened today for non retail investors and will open tomorrow for retail investors.

“The promoter proposes to sell up to 24 million equity shares of IRCTC, representing up to 15 per cent stake, with an option to additionally sell 8 million shares, representing 5 per cent of the total issued and paid up equity share capital”, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The government currently holds 87.40 per cent stake in IRCTC. To meet Sebi's public holding norm, the government has to lower its stake in the company to 75 per cent. IRCTC OFS will help the government inch forward in meeting the Rs 2.10 trillion disinvestment target.

A total of 10 per cent of OFS has been reserved for Retail investors and 5 per cent is reserved for employees. 

IRCTC, the only entity authorised by Indian Railways to provide catering services to railways, online railway tickets and packaged drinking water at railway stations and trains in India, was listed on the stock exchanges in October 2019. The company had raised Rs 645 crore through the IPO.

The stock was trading lower for the third straight trading days, down 19 per cent during the period. Prior to that, in just three trading days, the stock had rallied 25 per cent from Rs 1,350 to Rs 1,691.

At 09:46 am, IRCTC was down 8 per cent at Rs 1,489 on the BSE, as compared to 0.7 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. The trading volumes on the counter jumped 1.5 times with a  combined 4.55 million equity shares were changing hands on the NSE and BSE.