Blue Dart soars as Hindustan Copper crashes

23 Nov 2012

The government managed to raise around Rs610 crore by selling 4 per cent of state-run Hindustan Copper, at a weighted average price of Rs156.81 a share, slightly above the floor price of Rs155, stock exchange data showed.

Against this, Singapore-based DHL's logistics outfit Blue Dart Express sold 6.03 per cent stake at Rs1,833.08 per share, at a Rs113 premium to its floor price of Rs1,720. The issue was subscribed 3.5 times and garnered an estimated Rs950 crore.

Hindustan Copper' stock auction attracted bids for 38.9 million shares against the 37.01 million shares on offer. The government has option to sell a further 51.71 million shares in the monopoly copper producer.

The government, which owns 99.59 per cent of Hindustan Copper, decided on a limited free float of the stock, fixing the base price at a 40-45 per cent discount to its traded price Rs266.30 (on Thursday).

The stock fell about 20 per cent, its daily limit, on Friday to Rs212.95.

As expected, State-run Life Insurance Corp of India and State Bank of India were among the bigger buyers of shares, sources directly involved with the process said.