India's Power Grid issue oversubscribed nearly 15 times
Sunday, 14 November 2010
MUMBAI, Nov 13 (AFP): A 1.7 billion dollar sale of shares in India's state-run electricity transmission utility Power Grid was nearly 15 times oversubscribed by the time it closed yesterday, stock exchange data showed.
The strong investor interest came after the government last month raised 3.4 billion dollars from selling shares in Coal India, marking the country's largest share offer to date.
The offer seeks to raise as much as 76 billion rupees (1.7 billion dollars), split between the government and the firm, and its success augured well for other privatisations planned for coming months, bankers said.
"We are very satisfied with the response from all types of investors" to the Power Grid sale, a banker told AFP, on condition of anonymity.
On the final day Power Grid, the world's third-largest electricity transmission firm, saw total demand reach more than 12 billion shares, 14.6 times the 841 million shares available, stock exchange data showed.
Bankers said the figure could rise marginally as data was being collated.
Financial institutions bid for more than 18 times the shares on offer, the banker said, while small investors bid for the shares allocated to them nearly three times over.
The government is expected to price the issue at the top end of the price band of between 85 and 90 rupees (1.93 to 2.04 dollars) a share, he said.
The strong investor interest came after the government last month raised 3.4 billion dollars from selling shares in Coal India, marking the country's largest share offer to date.
The offer seeks to raise as much as 76 billion rupees (1.7 billion dollars), split between the government and the firm, and its success augured well for other privatisations planned for coming months, bankers said.
"We are very satisfied with the response from all types of investors" to the Power Grid sale, a banker told AFP, on condition of anonymity.
On the final day Power Grid, the world's third-largest electricity transmission firm, saw total demand reach more than 12 billion shares, 14.6 times the 841 million shares available, stock exchange data showed.
Bankers said the figure could rise marginally as data was being collated.
Financial institutions bid for more than 18 times the shares on offer, the banker said, while small investors bid for the shares allocated to them nearly three times over.
The government is expected to price the issue at the top end of the price band of between 85 and 90 rupees (1.93 to 2.04 dollars) a share, he said.