Govt sells Rs 1,150 cr worth enemy shares in Wipro
05 Apr 2019
The government has sold more than 44.3 million shares of IT major Wipro Ltd at a price of Rs258.90 apiece in a block deal, raising about Rs1,150 crore, according to data available with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
The Custodian of Enemy Property for India is reported to have sold the entire block to Life Insurance Corporation and two other state-owned insurers - General Insurance Corporation and The New India Assurance Corporation - stock exchange data showed.
At the price of Rs258.90 per share, the total value of the stocks sold amounts to nearly Rs1,150 crore, as per the data available on the exchange on Thursday.
Of the total 44.3 million shares on offer, LIC bought more than 38.6 billion while the two other state insurers shared the remaining.
Enemy property generally refers to property seized from or left behind by enemy and the central government is the Custodian of Enemy Property in India.
Last November, the government approved a mechanism for sale of enemy shares in companies.
The sale would help in monetisation of movable enemy property lying dormant for decades and the government would be able to utilise the proceeds for development and social welfare programmes, as per an official statement released in November 2018.
"Sale proceeds are to be deposited as disinvestment proceeds in the government account maintained by the ministry of finance," the statement had said.