Govt gets 20 queries each from merchant bankers, legal advisors for minority stake sales in PSU banks, financial firms

PSUs

The government has been approached by 20 merchant bankers and another 20 legal advisory firms ahead of the pre-bid conference for minority stake sales in state-run banks and financial firms, people aware of the development told Moneycontrol.

“We have received 20 queries each from merchant bankers and legal advisors after our empanelment notice which was floated last month,” one of the persons said on condition of anonymity.

The people did not mention the names of companies that have sent queries for the empanelment.

All these companies have attending the pre-bid conference happened today at 3 pm, the people added.

“Most of the queries the government has received were based on the empanelment and not beyond that,” the person cited above added.

On February 24, the government had invited bids to appoint merchant bankers and legal advisers to for a dilution of government equity in select public sector banks and select listed public financial institutions through methods approved by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), according to the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management's notification.

The government had set March 27 as the proposal due date/bid end date, and opening of technical bids will take place on March 28.

The plan to lower the government’s stake in banks and financial companies is required to comply with public shareholding norms mandated by the markets regulator. SEBI rules require companies to maintain a 25 percent public shareholding, but has exempted government-owned firms from meeting these norms till August 2026.