The Hindu Business Line : GAIL float to hit market on Feb 23

THE Government will first launch the public offer for sale of 10 per cent of its equity in gas transmission company GAIL (India) Ltd on February 23 followed by the public issue of 10 per cent equity in oil exploration company ONGC on March 2.

In order to elicit maximum response from retail investors by reducing the entry barriers, the Government has also decided to offer ONGC shares in lots of 10 and its multiples instead of splitting the company's stock. This is a departure from the normal practice of offering shares in lots of 100 and multiples, thereof, the Disinvestment Ministry officials said.

This was decided by the inter-ministerial group (IMG) on disinvestment in ONGC and GAIL, which met over the past two days.

As per the time-table finalised by the IMG, the public offer of 8.4 crore equity shares in GAIL will remain open for five days up to February 27, while the ONGC offer for sale of 14.2 crore equity shares will remain open for bidding for seven working days from March 2.

Both the public offers will done on the book-building route.

The IMG comprising secretary-level officials from Law, Finance, Petroleum and Disinvestment Ministries also chalked out a January 23 deadline for filing of prospectus with SEBI for the GAIL issue.

Besides, the IMG also favoured appointment of a second registrar to manage the GAIL issue to expedite the process.

The Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment (CCD) had in December last decided to offload 10 per cent equity each in the two oil PSUs within the fiscal in a move aimed at raising resources after the setback to the Government following a Supreme Court verdict halting privatisation of HPCL and BPCL.

As per the time-table, the draft prospectus for the ONGC public issue will be filed with SEBI before the month end and road shows will be held at London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and a couple of places in the US in the last week of February.

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GAIL float to hit market on Feb 23