RVNL to sell 15% stake to raise around Rs 800 crore

Union Government will sell 15 per cent of its stakes in the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd. (RVNL) through an offer for sale (OFS) to raise around Rs 800 core. The government will divest 10 per cent equity in RVNL and another 5 per cent with the greenshoe option.

The floor price of the share is fixed at Rs 27.50 per share, which is at a 10% per cent discount to Tuesday's closing at Rs 30.45 apiece. The issue will open today first for non-retail investors and on Thursday for retail investors, the company said in a regulatory filing to stock exchanges on Tuesday.

At present, the government has an 87.84% stake in RVNL with the rest 12.16% stake is with the public. After selling a 15% stake, RVNL will meet the minimum 25% public shareholding norm set by the market regulator SEBI.

"Offer for Sale in RVNL opens tomorrow for Non Retail investors. Retail investors can bid on Thursday. Govt. would divest 10% equity with a 5% Green Shoe option," DIPAM secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey tweeted from his official Twitter handle.

Finance Ministry has slashed its divestment target for FY21 to Rs 32,000 crore from Rs 2.1 trillion due to the disruptions caused by the covid pandemic. So far, the DIPAM has mopped up Rs 31,006 crore, with its latest exit from Tata Communications Ltd (TCL). For FY22, the finance ministry has set an ambitious disinvestment target of Rs 1.75 trillion banking on a string of privatizations including BPCL, Air India and the initial public offer of Life Insurance Corporation.

Earlier in February, RVNL reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 281 crore for Q3FY21, a jump of 171 per cent over the same quarter a year ago. RVNL was incorporated as 100 per cent owned PSU of the Ministry of Railways in 2003 with the twin objectives of raising extra-budgetary resources and implementation of projects relating to creation and augmentation of the capacity of rail infrastructure on fast track basis. RVNL became fully functional by March 2005.