Hind Copper share sale: Retail buyers bid for 14% so far

New Delhi: Government's 7 percent stake sale in Hindustan Copper, which opened for bidding by retail investors today, got subscription of 14 percent of the shares reserved till the afternoon trade.

However, the Hindustan Copper stock slipped below the floor price of Rs 62 in a weak market and was trading 3.14 percent down at Rs 60.15 on BSE.

The government is selling over 6.47 crore shares at a floor price of Rs 62 a share. Of this, over 5.18 crore shares were offered to institutional investors yesterday.

Bidding for the remaining over 1.29 crore shares began this morning. According to the NSE data, subscription for over 17.49 lakh shares, or 14 percent of their reserved quota, came in by 1335 hours. Bidding by retail investors would continue till 1530 hours.

A five percent additional discount is being offered to retail investors, who are classified as those bidding for shares worth up to Rs 2 lakh.

The government currently holds 89.95 percent in Hindustan Copper.

At the floor price of Rs 62, the sale of over 6.47 crore shares would fetch over Rs 400 crore to the exchequer.

Institutional investors, including FIIs and insurance companies, kick-started the Hindustan Copper stake sale yesterday, with the portion offered to them getting oversubscribed by 1.56 times. Total bids worth Rs 500 crore came in from these buyers.

Hindustan Copper is the second disinvestment through the OFS route by the government in the current fiscal. The government is targeting Rs 56,500 crore through selling shares and privatisation of public sector undertakings (PSUs).

It had last raised Rs 2,716 crore through share sale in NHPC in April.