Institutional Buyers Over-Subscribe Ircon Share Sale, Put In Bids Worth Rs 2,400 Crore

The government's offer for selling up to 8% stake in IRCON International was over-subscribed by institutional investors who put in bids worth over Rs 2,400 crore on Thursday.

The government is selling about 7.53 crore equity shares, representing 8% in the railway PSU at a floor price of Rs 154 apiece through a two-day offer for sale (OFS).

The issue would open for retail investors on Friday.

On Thursday, non-retail investors put in bids for over 15.66 crore shares, as against over 3.38 crore shares reserved for them. The indicative price of bids was Rs 157.24.

At this price, the bids are worth over Rs 2,400 crore.

Currently, the government holds a 73.18% in IRCON, an engineering and construction firm.

Shares of IRCON closed at Rs 160.75 per piece, down 6.54% over Wednesday's close on BSE.

So far in the current fiscal, the government has raised Rs 8,859 crore by selling minority stake in CPSEs. The budget has set a target of Rs 51,000 crore to be mopped up from PSU disinvestment.

"Offer for Sale in IRCON received enthusiastic response from non-retail investors today. The issue was subscribed 4.63 times of the base size. Government has decided to exercise the green shoe option," Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said in a post on X.