Govt invites bids from merchant bankers for RCF issue

New Delhi: The government has initiated the process of appointing merchant bankers for managing the 12.5 percent stake sale in Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers.

Merchant bankers will have to put in the bids by 15 January for managing the share sale of RCF, the Department of Disinvestment (DoD) said.

Last week, the Cabinet had cleared the 12.5 percent government stake sale in RCF through the offer for sale (OFS) or auction route. The bidders must have prior experience in managing OFS.

The government holds 92.5 percent stake in RCF and the paid up capital of the company is Rs 551.69 crore.

At the current market price of the Rs 55.25 a share, the 12.5 stake sale could fetch around Rs 350-360 crore to the exchequer.

The stake sale approval is part of government's decision to raise Rs 30,000 crore through disinvestment in the current fiscal.

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So far in 2012-13 fiscal, the government has raised over Rs 6,900 crore through minority stake sale in PSUs.

The government has already identified 10 companies, including NTPC, Oil India (OIL), MMTC, SAIL, BHEL, for disinvestment. The stake sale of OIL is likely in January, followed by NTPC in February.

PTI