Govt sets Rs145 base price for NTPC share sale
06 Feb 2013
The government has fixed the floor price for sale of 9.5-per cent stake in state-run power utility National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (NTPC) at Rs145 a share against its current market price of around Rs152 a share.
The offer for sale (OFS) is at a 4.5-per cent discount to its Wednesday's close. Ahead of the share sale, NTPC shares closed at Rs151.80 on Wednesday, down 2.4 per cent, on the BSE.
NTPC shares closed 2.12 per cent lower at Rs152.30 on the BSE, underperforming the broader BSE Power index, which declined 0.5 per cent.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Tuesday approved sale of 783.26 million shares (or 9.5 per cent) of NTPC through a tender offer on the stock market.
At the base price of Rs145 the stake sale would help the government raise around Rs11,357.27 crore, and considering a higher bid, the sale would fetch over Rs12,000 crore.
This is the third time that NTPC, India's biggest power producer with a capacity of 36GW, will be hitting the market in the past decade. While the company made its market debut with a listing in 2004, it launched a follow-on public offer in February 2010.