No final call on IOC FPO yet
New Delhi   17-Dec-2010

The government on Thursday said it is yet to take a final decision on the followon public offer (FPO) of the country’s largest oil marketer, IndianOil (IOC).

“The approval for IOC divestment is not yet in place. The cabinet has not yet approved the sale. Only after that we can fix a time,” oil secretary S Sun
dareshan said.

“There is no question of deferring or postponing as no decision on timing of the FPO had ever been taken,” the top bureaucrat in the oil ministry said when asked if the government plans to defer the issue.

The government hopes to garner close to Rs 20,000 crore by selling 10 per cent stake in IOC. At present, the government holds 78.92 per cent in the country’s largest fuel retailer. FIIs hold 1.01 per cent, whereas domestic institutional investors and others have another 20.07 per cent stake.

IOC chairman B M Bansal on December 1 told reporters that the company’s public issue may hit street in January 2011.

Sundareshan indicated that the timing of the FPO would be decided in consultation with department of disinvestment.

ICICI Securities and SBI Capital Markets will handle IOC's public issue. Other four merchant bankers hired for the issue include Citigroup, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS.

IOC's scrip on the Bombay Stock Exchange closed 2.45 points down at Rs 378.15 on Thursday.