Domestic roadshows for 5 per cent disinvestment in SAIL, likely to fetch about Rs 1,800 crore, will start by this month-end, while the exercise to attract overseas investors will begin in the first week of September.
“The issue will hit the market in the middle of next month. Keeping that in mind, the Department of Disinvestment has decided to start domestic roadshows in the last week of August and overseas roadshows in the first week of next month,” a source in the Steel Ministry said.
Domestic roadshows for the issue, in which government’s around 20.65 crore shares would be divested through offer for sale or auction route, will be held in Mumbai and Chennai.
Two teams will be sent to meet overseas investors, he said, adding that while one would visit London, New York and Boston, the other one would solicit the participation of the investors based in Singapore and Hong Kong.
In each of the overseas roadshow, the team would comprise one official from the company, one from the Steel Ministry and one from the DoD.
The government is likely to start with SAIL its Rs 43,425 crore disinvestment target by selling its stake in state-owned companies.
The Finance Ministry is of the view that since the follow-on public offer route takes about 3-4 months for all regulatory clearances, the OFS route would be a better bet as the exercise can be completed within 15 days to one month for launching the issue.
The Cabinet had in July 2012 approved a 10.82 per cent stake sale in SAIL. The first tranche of disinvestment of 5.82 per cent was completed in March 2013.