The government will extend the deadline for potential bidders to submit expressions of interest (EoI) for IDBI Bank to early January, a senior finance ministry official said on Friday, indicating that it expects more robust investor interest in the lender. The deadline was December 16.
Given the extended year-end holidays overseas, several potential investors had requested transaction adviser KPMG India for an extension, the official added.
The government, meanwhile, is banking on a few offers for sale (OFS), including in Hindustan Zinc (HZL), to maximise disinvestment receipts in the remainder of the current financial year as all strategic sales on the cards will materialise only in FY24, the official said. The department of investment and public asset management (Dipam) will invite EoI for a 30.8% stake (worth about `14,500 crore at the current market prices) sale in ConCor in January, the official added.
“The size of stake sale in HZL will depend on market appetite,” the official said, adding that the government is not chasing the annual disinvestment target and will disinvest minority stakes in CPSEs if it sees value.
On October 7, the Centre invited EoI and offered to sell a total of 60.72% stake in IDBI Bank, including 30.48% held by the government directly and 30.24% by state-run LIC, along with the transfer of management control.
The bank’s stock closed at `54.75 a piece on the BSE on Friday, down 5.68% from the previous close.
In the pre-EoI stage, Dipam had received 167 queries from domestic banks/ NBFCs, foreign banks and funds, signalling strong interest for the lender, the official said.
The government’s disinvestment receipts stand at Rs 28,383 crore so far in FY23, 44% of the annual target of `65,000 crore.
The Centre’s stake in HZL, an integrated miner and producer of non-ferrous metals, including zinc, lead, silver and cadmium, is worth about `39,500 crore at current market prices. Besides HZL, the government could sell minority stakes in a few energy and mining CPSEs in FY23 to narrow the shortfall, even if it does not meet the annual target.
Dipam is pursuing a number of other strategic sales such as HLL Lifecare, Shipping Corporation of India, and BEML. FE
