State-run National Buildings Construction Corporation's IPO has received a tepid response, as the issue got subscribed by just 23% at the end of second day today, even as the company expressed confidence the offer will sail through.
The initial public offer (IPO), which closes on March 27, attracted bids for about 2.78 million shares, creating demand worth over Rs 29.5 crore, by 1700 hrs today.
"As part of divestment programme, the government will divest 10% stake through the offer for sale of 12 million equity shares of face value of 10 each," NBCC Chairman-cum-Managing Director Vishnu P Das told reporters here.
"The issue is rightly priced and we are very confident that it will go through," he said.
The price band of the IPO has been fixed at Rs 90-106 per share. At the lower end, the government would raise about Rs 108 crore and at the upper band about Rs 127 crore.
A discount of 5% to the offer price will be given to retail investors and eligible employees, Das said.
NBCC is the government's third and last disinvestment candidate in the current fiscal, after Follow-on Public Offer of Power Finance Corp (PFC) in May 2011 and sale of shares through a one-day auction of ONGC earlier this month.
The government has raised a total of Rs 13,894 crore from PFC's FPO and ONGC share sale.
The floor price is nine times the face value and the cap price is 10.6 times of the face value, Das said.
NBCC under the administrative control of Ministry of Urban Development provides project management consultancy services for construction projects, civil infrastructure for power sector and real estate development.