Govt to sell 5% stake in NTPC tom, to garner Rs 5K cr

Government is set to sell five percent stake in NTPC via offer-for-sale (OFS) on Tuesday. It hopes to garner around Rs 5000 crore, reports CNBC-TV18’s Sapna Das.

The stake sale would be spread over two days with institutional bidders getting the first chance to buy shares tomorrow. Retails investors, for whom 20 percent shares have been reserved, will get to bid on February 24. Recently the government had tweaked the OFS rules for retail investors.NTPC is the first company to hit the markets under the revised offer for sale (OFS) guidelines of market regulator Sebi. The OFS route has now been spread over two days.

The floor price of Rs 122 will be at a 3.8 percent discount to today's closing price of Rs 126.85. "The floor price for the offer shall be Rs 122 per equity share," NTPC said in a regulatory filing. "Retail investors shall be allowed to place their bids only on the T+1 day. Further, those non-Retail investors who have placed their bids on T day and have chosen to carry forward their bids to T+1 day, shall be allowed to revise their bids on T+1 day as per the SEBI OFS Circulars," NTPC said.The Cabinet in May had approved the 5 percent stake sale in NTPC. The government holds 74.96 percent in the firm. It had last sold stake in NTPC in February 2013.

Last month too the government had offloaded stake in EIL (Engineers India Limited), which shows intent on the part of government to revise the divestment target. NTPC would be the sixth PSU to hit markets in the current fiscal. The disinvestment department has held roadshows in Singapore, Hong Kong, London and in the US.