Government to sell up to 5% stake in railway unit IRCTC via offer for sale at floor price of Rs 680 apiece

The government will sell an up to 5 per cent stake in Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp (IRCTC) through an offer for sale (OFS) on the BSE and NSE on 15 and 16 December, the company said in a filing on Wednesday.

The OFS includes base issue size of 2 crore shares or 2.5 per cent stake, with an option to retain over-subscription of another 2.5 per cent, taking the total issue size to 4 crore shares or 5 per cent stake.

"The offer shall take place on a separate window of the stock exchanges on December 15, 2022 (T day) and December 16, 2022 (T+1 day), from 9:15 am to 3:30 pm (Indian Standard Time) on both days," IRCTC said in a statement.

At the floor price of Rs 680 a share, sale of 4 crore shares in Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) would fetch about Rs 2,700 crore to the exchequer.

The floor price is at a discount of 7.4 per cent over Wednesday's closing price of IRCTC on the BSE.

Shares of IRCTC closed at Rs 734.70, up 1.53 per cent over previous close on BSE.

The OFS will open for subscription by institutional investors on Thursday and on Friday for retail investors.

The proceeds from IRCTC OFS will add to the disinvestment kitty of the government. The government has raised Rs 28,383 crore from central public sector enterprises' stake sale so far this fiscal against the full year budget target of Rs 65,000 crore.

IRCTC is the only firm authorised by the Indian Railways to manage food services on trains and offer online railway ticket booking services.

Last month, the government received 38.39 billion rupees from the sale of Axis Bank Ltd shares held by a government-investment vehicle.

With Agencies Input