IndianOil to buy 5% of OIL from Centre
New Delhi   03-Dec-2007
IndianOil said on Friday that it has received the board approval for acquiring a five per cent stake in Oil India Ltd (OIL) from, the government. IndianOil will acquire 1,07,00,220 equity shares of OIL, which constitutes 5 per cent of OIL's pre-issued paid-up capital, from government at a price equivalent to the issue price of the equity shares that are proposed to be offered by OIL to the public through an initial public offering in accordance with the book-building method. The sale and purchase will be completed prior to the allotment of equity shares to the public and within 48 hours after the issue price is determined through the book-building method after obtaining the approval of the board of directors of OIL. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) board has also approved the acquisition of 5.3 million OIL shares. The IPO of OIL is slated for the first quarter of 2008. The government earlier agreed to a 10 per cent initial public offering in Oil India, and a preferential allotment of 10 per cent of the exploration firm to three state-run refiners. HPCL has also been allowed to buy 2.5 per cent stake in OIL but its board is yet to approve the purchase. Presently, the government has 98.17 per cent stake in the company, while the.remaining is with the employees.