Big news for IRCTC: Govt to finalise banker to execute OFS today

Zee Business Managing Editor Anil Singhvi in a conversation with Zee Business Executive Editor Swati Khandelwal discussed about Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Offer for Sale (OFS), selection of bankers and how the government has sped up the OFS process for the Railways’ company engaged in catering business. 

Elaborating about the process, Swati Khandelwal told the Market Guru that the process of selecting the bankers will kick off today, indicating government’s intention to speed up the entire process.  

Quoting sources, she said that as many as 11 bankers including, Axis Bank, Elara Capital, HSBC Securities, ICICI Securities and Kotak Mahindra among many, will give their presentation on Wednesday to get the mandate to undertake this IRCTC’s OFS exercise. The government, which currently has a stake of 87.4% in IRCTC, intends to sell 15-20% stake in the Railways’ catering company through OFS, she informed. The government’s stake in IRCTC will come down to 75% post OFS.  

She further said these bankers will bid for IRCTC OFS on Wednesday and the bank that will execute the entire exercise will also be finalised today itself. The entire process is being sped up as the government plans to complete IRCTC OFS process this year alone, she said.  

Find below the detailed conersation: 

#ZBizHeadlines | IRCTC के लिए बड़ी खबर...

OFS के लिए आज होगा बैंकर्स का चयन, 11 बैंकर्स देंगे प्रेजेंटेशन

कौन से बैंकर्स दौड़ में हैं शामिल? जानने के लिए देखिए ये एक्सक्लूसिव खबर...#IRCTC @AnilSinghvi_ @SwatiKJain pic.twitter.com/ZEF2lOaZ1c

— Zee Business (@ZeeBusiness) October 14, 2020

IRCTC OFS would help the government inch forward towards meeting the Rs 2.10 lakh crore disinvestment target for ongoing fiscal. Of this, Rs 1.20 lakh crore is to come from disinvestment of public sector undertakings and Rs 90,000 crore from stake sale in financial institutions. 

Earlier in August, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) had invited bids from merchant bankers by September 10 for managing the sale in Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp (IRCTC). However, it did not disclose the quantum of stake on offer in the Request for Proposal (RFP). Following this, a pre-bid meeting was held on September 4 with potential bidders. 

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The company had also raised Rs 645 crore through an IPO.