GAIL float priced at Rs 195

Govt to raise Rs 1,600 crore by offloading 10% stake.

GAIL India Ltd's divestment offering, which was subscribed 8 times, has been priced at Rs 195 per share.

The offer price, reached through the book-building process, is at a 9.2 per cent discount to the share's Friday close of Rs 214.70, but at a 5.4 per cent premium to its minimum bid price of Rs 185.

Retail investors who bid for fewer than 50,000 shares each and company employees would receive shares at Rs 185.25, a five per cent discount to the offer price.

Retail investors, employees and high net worth individuals would together receive 52.5 per cent of the shares on offer and institutional buyers the rest.

The Centre will, in the process, raise Rs 1,600 crore for offloading its 10 per cent stake "" or 84.56 million shares "" in the gas firm. The government plans to raise nearly Rs 14,500 crore in weeks to bridge its fiscal deficit. The share sale will cut the government's stake in GAIL to 57.4 per cent.

Offers of shares in three other state firms, Power Trading Corp of India Ltd, Petronet LNG Ltd and Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd, are currently under way.

ONGC's giant offer, India's largest ever, opened on Friday and was fully subscribed within 11 minutes, ending weeks of unease about big government issues flooding the stock market. The ONGC issue will raise at least $2.15 billion.

Retail joy

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• Retail investors to get shares at Rs 182.25, a 5% discount to the offer price.
• Retail investors, HNIs, employees to get 52.5% of the shares on offer.
• Offer price is at a 9.2% discount to the share's Friday close.