Disinvestment

The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) on Monday invited bids from merchant bankers to assist the government in its planned stake sale in public sector banks and listed financial institutions. As per the RFP (request for proposal) floated by DIPAM, the merchant bankers would be empanelled for a period of three years (further extendable by 1 year) and they would advise the government on the timing and the modalities of the transaction for dilution of equity in select PSU banks/select listed public financial institutions. The last day for putting in bids by merchant bankers is March 27. "The Government of India (GOI) intends to empanel BRLMs/MBSBs for a period of three years (further extendable by one year) in the context of dilution of GOI equity in select Public Sector Banks (PSBs), and select listed Public Financial Institutions (PFIs) (as defined under the Companies Act, 2013) using SEBI approved methods in accordance with the extant SEBI/RBI/IRDAI and ..

Today's pieces cover diverse topics: our editorials examine how India's renewable energy sector is now a victim of its own success, and ponder the government's inexplicable pause on privatisation.

The Union government and Life Insurance Corporation jointly hold a 95 per cent stake in IDBI Bank, of which they are selling 60.72 per cent

Indian Oil's decision to withdraw its Rs 22,000 crore rights issue highlights the govt's reluctance to reduce its stake in state-run enterprises, as fiscal priorities shift to sectors like rail, roads

Central government and LIC are set to divest 61% stake amid strategic disinvestment drive. The govt aims to generate Rs 50,000 crore through asset monetisation this fiscal year

FIH Mauritius Investments is also the promoter of Thrissur-based CSB Bank

As worrying as the recent decline in gross foreign direct investment is the increasing pace of disinvestment

This must be a top priority for the next govt

IDBI Bank's disinvestment process began in October 2022, with LIC and the government selling their respective shares of 30.24% and 30.48%

Dipam recorded total receipts of Rs 75,886 crore for both disinvestment proceeds and dividend collections

TDP Member of Parliament Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar on Friday demanded that the Centre take steps for revival of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and review its decision to divest government stake. He was speaking in Rajya Sabha during Zero Hour. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had in January 2021 given in-principle approval for 100 per cent strategic disinvestment of the government shareholding in RINL -- also called Visakhapatnam Steel Plant or Vizag Steel -- along with RINL's stake in its subsidiaries/joint ventures. "Subsequent to the decision of the government, there is much discontent among crores and crores of people of Andhra Pradesh. Employees and union of the plant are staging demonstrations and protesting against the decision. The request to reconsider the government decision has been made in different fora by people's representatives," Kumar said. He told the House that RINL was operating at 68 per cent of 6.3 MTPA capacity up to February 2023. Though the blast ...

He said that of the Rs 30,000 crore miscellaneous receipt for FY24, the Centre expects to get about Rs 12,000 crore from asset monetisation and Rs 18,000 crore from disinvestment

It has never happened that the budget estimate for dividends from such companies has failed

Interim Budget 2024: For FY24, the Centre had set a disinvestment target of Rs 51,000 crore but has only been able to meet one-fifth of it so far

With general elections on the horizon, the government's privatisation bandwagon has almost but stalled as a government wary of being accused of selling family silver opts for minority stake sales on stock exchanges over outright privatisation. The result -- the disinvestment target for current fiscal year is again likely to be missed. Big ticket privatisation plans such as that of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and CONCOR are already on the backburner and analysts feel meaningful privatisation can happen only after April/May general elections. In the current fiscal, out of the budgeted amount of Rs 51,000 crore, about 20 per cent or Rs 10,049 crore has been collected through minority stake sales via IPO (Initial Public Offering) and OFS (Offer For Sale). Strategic sale of a host of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), including SCI, NMDC Steel Ltd, BEML, HLL Lifecare and IDBI Bank, are in the pipeline for completion in the current

Adani Commodities and Lence Pte, the promoters of the company, will be divesting part of their shareholding, Adani Wilmar said in an exchange filing

Two promoter entities of Sapphire Foods India on Monday pared a 5.9 per cent stake in the restaurant operator for Rs 530 crore through open market transactions. Samara Capital Partners Fund II Ltd and Sapphire Foods Mauritius were the entities that sold the shares of Sapphire Foods India Ltd (SFIL). SFIL is an omnichannel restaurant operator and the largest franchise of Yum Brands such as KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell etc in India and Sri Lanka. According to the bulk deal data available with the BSE, Samara Capital Partners Fund II offloaded 4,49,999 shares and Sapphire Foods Mauritius disposed of 33,37,423 shares, amounting to 0.71 per cent and 5.24 per cent stake, respectively, in Sapphire Foods. The shares were sold at an average price of Rs 1,400 apiece, taking the transaction value to Rs 530.24 crore. After the latest transaction, Samara Capital Partners Fund II exited the firm by selling 4.49 lakh shares, representing a 0.71 per cent stake in SFIL. Also, another promoter entity

Japanese conglomerate Softbank's arm Svf Python II (Cayman) on Friday divested a 2.5 per cent stake in Policybazaar's parent firm PB Fintech for Rs 914 crore through open market transactions. HDFC Mutual Fund (MF), Mirae Asset MF, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Societe Generale, Capital Group, The Master Trust Bank of Japan, Government Pension Fund Global, Goldman Sachs, and China's Best Investment Corporation, among others, were the buyers of the shares. Following the share sale, shares of PB Fintech fell 2.31 per cent to close at Rs 789.45 apiece on the BSE. Svf Python II (Cayman) Ltd offloaded a total of 1,14,21,212 shares in 10 tranches, amounting to 2.54 per cent, in PB Fintech, as per the block deal data available with the BSE. The shares were sold at an average price of Rs 800.05 apiece, taking the aggregate deal value to Rs 913.75 crore. After the latest transaction, Softbank's shareholding has declined to 1.85 per cent from 4.39 per cent stake in PB Fintech. In October

Biotechnology major Biocon on Friday said it is not evaluating divestment options for its API business. In a regulatory filing, Bengaluru-based company said it is "neither evaluating any divestment options for its API business nor consulting any bankers for this." The Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) business is a strategic business segment of the company and a key growth driver for the company's small molecules business, a company spokesperson said. "Biocon continues to strengthen this business and has an ongoing investment of over half a billion dollars in capex and R&D," the filing said. The company has a strong pipeline of niche fermentation-based APIs, peptides and high potent API products for the near- and long-term growth of its integrated APIs and generic formulations business, it said. Biocon shares on Friday ended 1.25 per cent down at Rs 251.60 apiece on the BSE.

The Finance Ministry has invited bids for the empanelment of merchant bankers and legal advisors for assisting the government in CPSE disinvestment transactions undertaken through OFS and stock market dribbling. The bids have been invited in four categories -- A++, A+, A and B, based on the size of the transaction. To be eligible for empanelment in the A++ category, which is an OFS transaction size of more than Rs 2,000 crore, interested merchant bankers would be required to have completed at least one equity market transaction of the size of Rs 2,000 crore. For empanelment for managing OFS transaction size of Rs 750 crore to Rs 2,000 crore (A+), and less than Rs 750 crore (A), the interested merchant banker would be required to have managed at least one capital market transaction of Rs 750 crore and Rs 500 crore respectively between April 2020 and till now. In the fourth category, which is B, interested merchant bankers would be involved in the sale of CPSE shares on the stock ...