Centre throws away 4% HCL stake for `260 crore

 Government on Wednesday raised Rs 260 crore from sale of its 4.01 per cent stake in Hindustan Copper with the issue being oversubscribed well before closure of markets.

The issue attracted bids for over 4.38 crore shares as against a total number of over 3.71 crore shares on offer, at a base price of Rs 70 apiece.

'The issue was subscribed 1.18 times. The approximate gross receipts on allotment would be Rs 260 crore,' an official statement said.
Hindustan Copper is the second successful disinvestment in the current fiscal. Last month the government had sold 9.33 per cent stake in MMTC to rake in Rs 568 crore.

However, shares of the company took a beating on the bourses and fell 3.10 per cent to close at Rs 70.40 on the BSE. On the National Stock Exchange, Hindustan Copper (HCL) closed at Rs 70.20, down 2.97 per cent.Over 15 lakh shares changed hands on both the bourses.
The government holding in HCL has come down to 90 per cent post disinvestment. The stake sale made the company compliant with the minimum 10 per cent public holding norm of market regulator Sebi.

The sale of 4.01 per cent stake, or over 3.71 crore share, was undertaken through offer for sale (OFS) route.The base price of Rs 70 was fixed at a discount of 3.65 per cent over Tuesday's closing. A panel of ministers, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, had decided on the price for the share sale.

Axis Capital, ICICI Securities, Kotak Securities, SBICAP Securities and UBS Securities India acted as brokers for the share sale.
The government had in November last year sold 5.58 per cent stake in HCL through OFS route at an average price of Rs 156.56 apiece. The stake sale fetched Rs 808 crore to the exchequer.

In September, 2012, the Cabinet had approved 9.5 per cent stake sale in HCL. The government had then decided to go ahead with only one tranche of the issue to get a good price from the auction. The government plans to raise Rs 40,000 crore through disinvestment in 2013-14.