GIC Offer for Sale (OFS): Institutional investors place bids worth Rs 2,300 crore

Institutional investors on Wednesday put in bids worth about Rs 2,300 crore in the government's offer for sale (OFS) of General Insurance Corporation (GIC Re).

The first government disinvestment of the current fiscal -- the OFS of GIC RE -- saw a slow start on Wednesday with the issue getting fully subscribed just before the close of market hours.

The OFS received bids from non-retail investors for 5.81 crore shares, which is 108.49 per cent of the over 5.35 crore shares reserved for them, as per BSE data.

Retail investors will get to bid in the OFS on Thursday.

Based on indicative price of Rs 395.11 for the bids, institutional investors put about Rs 2,300 crore bids for GIC Re shares on Wednesday.

The government is selling up to 5.95 crore equity shares or 3.39 per cent stake in GIC Re at a floor price of Rs 395 a share. The OFS also has a greenshoe option to allow government retain over-subscription of up to an additional 3.39 per cent, taking the total issue size to 6.78 per cent.

IDBI Capital Markets & Securities, SBI Cap Securities, BoB Capital Markets, and Elara Securities (india) Pvt Ltd acted as selling brokers for the OFS.

Shares of GIC Re traded at Rs 397.70, down 5.59 per cent over Tuesday's close on the BSE.

The government currently holds 85.78 per cent stake in GIC Re.

The GIC Re got listed on the bourses in October 2017. The government had garnered Rs 9,685 crore from the initial public offering (IPO).