Sources told Bloomberg that Power Grid Corp of India Ltd intends to price its share sale close to the high end of a marketed range. Three people with knowledge of the matter said the share sale would raise an estimated INR 69.5 billion or USD 1.1 billion in India's second largest equity offering for 2013.
Information from the company's website revealed that Power Grid Corp of India Ltd is the Central Transmission Utility of India under the Indian government's Ministry of Power. It is one of the largest Power Transmission utilities around the globe. According to the website information, Power Grid has a vital role in growing the power sector of India as it develops a strong Integrated National Grid and joins the flagship program of the Indian government to give power for all.
The people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the information is confidential said a final decision will be made later today on the pricing of the offering. A group of government ministers will be determining the final price for the offering. Citing figures on the website of the National Stock Exchange, the report said investors had placed orders for 6.74 times the number of available shares.
Based on an exchange filing on November 29, Power Grid and the Indian government are offering 787 million shares in the state-run electricity distributor at a price range of INR 85 to INR 90. A discount of INR 4.5 rupees from the final price will be given to retail investors and some employees, the report said.
At USD 1.1 billion, this would the biggest share sale in India since NTPC Ltd undertook a USD 2.2 billion offering in February this year, the report said. Managing the offering of Power Grid are SBI Capital Markets Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Capital Co, ICICI Securities Ltd, Citigroup Inc and UBS, Bloomberg said in its report.
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