Coal India divestment on Friday; Government eyes Rs 22,600 crore

New Delhi/Kolkata: In the biggest ever share sale, government will offer Coal India shares at a floor price of Rs 358 apiece on Friday for divestment of up to 10 per cent stake in the state-run behemoth for an estimated Rs 22,600 crore, even as trade unions warned of strike against the move.

The floor price was fixed on Thursday at a discount of about 5 per cent from the current market price of Coal India (CIL), where the government presently holds nearly 90 per cent stake. In the one-day stake sale, to be conducted on Friday during market hours from 9 am to 3.30 pm, the government will sell 31.58 crore shares or 5 per cent stake with an option to sell a further 5 per cent stake depending on the demand.

At the floor price, the total 10 per cent stake can fetch the government Rs 22,600 crore, although retail investors would get a five per cent price discount and 20 per cent shares worth over Rs 4,000 crore would be reserved for them.

This would exceed the existing record amount of over Rs 15,000 crore raised through a public offer, which was also by CIL when it had entered the market with its IPO in 2010. CIL shares were sold at a price of Rs 245 in the IPO, which was oversubscribed by more than 15 times.

The government will have to dilute its stake by further 5 per cent at a later stage to meet the capital market norms of maximum 75 per cent promoter shareholding in a listed company.

Wednesday's share sale would also help the government on its disinvestment target of Rs 43,425 crore for the current fiscal ending on March 31, out of which it has so far collected less than Rs 1,800 crore.

Opposing the move, trade unions on Thursday said they will hold "symbolic demonstration" tomorrow to protest against the disinvestment and also warned of a possible strike at a later stage after discussing the matter among all central unions.

The stock exchanges today also sought clarification from the company on media reports that unions have threated to 'go slow', to which CIL replied that it has not received any notice from any union in this regard.