Centre plans disinvestment in IRCTC via offer for sale; DIPAM invites bids

The Central Government is planning to reduce its stake in the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) via offer for sale (OFS). The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) has invited bids for the appointment of merchant bankers and selling brokers. The government at present has a shareholding of 87.4% in the railway catering services company, which was listed on Indian stock markets last year.

Reports state that a meeting in this regard is to be held on September 3 followed by the invitation of bids by the government between September 4 to September 10 and the bids will be opened on September 11.

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Interested parties to make a presentation

The government is also considering to allot shares to eligible employees of IRCTC after the completion of OFS. The employees might be given at a discounted price or at the lowest cut off price.

The interested parties may bid separately or in collaboration with the qualified bidders required to make a presentation in front of an inter-ministerial group, after which a final decision will be taken.

IRCTC remains the only Railway service company that handles the catering, tourism and online ticketing operations with around 5,50,000 to 6,00,000 bookings every day. It had launched its IPO (Initial Public Offering) last year on September 30. The company sold 12.6% share through the IPO after which its shareholding came to 87.4%.

The base price of shares was set between Rs 315 and Rs 320, however, the IPO was massively oversubscribed and when the listing went live by mid-October the share price opened at a Rs 625 and Rs 646 on NSE and BSE respectively its prices shot up. As on August 19, 2020, the share price is at Rs 1354.95.

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