Steel Authority of India Ltd's follow-on public offer (FPO) will hit the capital markets in March.
The Steel Secretary, Mr P.K. Misra, said on Friday that the Government is looking at bringing out the FPO by the end of the fiscal but it would depend on market conditions.
“Issues such as market conditions, FPO of ONGC, etc, will be considered before deciding a final date for the Maharatna firm's share sale,” said Mr Misra.
“Our effort is that government gets maximum revenue from the share sale. We have to protect the government's interests before hitting the markets,” he added.
Merchant bankers
The Secretary also admitted that the Steel Ministry's tiff with the four merchant bankers – SBI Capital, Kotak Mahindra, Deutsche Bank and HSBC – led to delays with the FPO.
The four merchant bankers were also handling the Tata Steel FPO which concluded on January 21.
Mr Misra said, “The bankers have been asked to give an undertaking in a week's time that there is no clash of interests and they are committed to us. Then, they can continue working on the FPO.”
Delays
The delays and weak market conditions could mean that SAIL's FPO may not come out this fiscal. “We can not rule out the possibility of delaying the FPO for the next financial year as there are many factors, including market conditions that are being looked at for the launch of the offer,” Mr Misra said.
SAIL's FPO is crucial for the Government to meet its target of raising Rs 40,000 crore through disinvestment this fiscal.
According to BSE data, the Government has mopped up Rs 22,763 crore through divestments this fiscal. The Government will have to sell 5 per cent stake in SAIL to raise an estimated Rs 4,000 crore.