NTPC divestment: Citi, Jefferies, Yes, Axis to advise on year’s largest share sale

Dhirendra Tripathi Moneycontrol News

The government has selected Citigroup Global Markets India, Jefferries India, Yes Securities and Axis Capital to advise it on the proposed sale of its shares in NTPC. The government wants to sell shares equivalent to 10 percent of the state-owned generator’s equity as part of its plan to divest its holding in public sector companies. The sale of shares is expected to be the year’s largest and also ranks among the top 5 divestments ever done by the government.

NTPC’s equity comprises 8.24 billion shares. At today’s market price of Rs 156, sale of 10 percent of the company’s equity will fetch it Rs 12,863 crore. There will be no fresh issue of shares by the company. The government currently holds 69.74 percent stake in the company.

The government plans to raise Rs 72,500 crore through sale of its shares in various companies. It aims to achieve this by raising Rs 46,500 crore via minority stake sales, Rs 15,000 crore through strategic stake sales and Rs 11,000 from the listing of various public sector insurance companies.

Besides NTPC, the list of companies lined up for divestment of government holding includes Steel Authority of India, Rural Electrification Corporation, Power Finance Corporation, RITES and NHPC, amongst others.