The Hindu : Govt. sets IBP price at Rs. 620

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 03, 2004

Business

Business

Govt. sets IBP price at Rs. 620

NEW DELHI, MARCH 2. Investors to the public offering of IBP will get shares of the oil marketing major at Rs. 620 apiece, same as the floor price, with retail investors getting it for Rs. 589 after discount and the Government mopping up over Rs. 350 crores in the process.

The issue, which closed yesterday, was oversubscribed 2.8 times with the retail portion being just subscribed. As a result, the small investors are likely to get whatever they applied.

The Government is disinvesting 26 per cent of its residual equity in IBP which had earlier been handed over to the Indian Oil Corporation through strategic sale.

The offer price of Rs. 620 was arrived at after a meeting between disinvestment ministry officials with merchant bankers. The price was late in the evening cleared by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, official sources said.

The IBP was the only issue that ran into rough weather and was not picked up in the initial few days until the Disinvestment Minister, Arun Shourie, had to wield a stick and break the bear cartel which had hugged the market.

The other issues, CMC and IPCL, had received overwhelming response. The stock market, which had crashed in the first few days of the IPO rush, has since stabilised, giving hope to the Government that the mega issue of ONGC will sail through easily.

UNI

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