Four public sector banks (PSBs) on Wednesday put on sale their stakes in various companies to collectively raise at least Rs 100 crore, days ahead of the close of the September quarter.
In a public notice, PNB Investment Services (PNBISL) invited bids for Punjab National Bank’s (PNB) 3% share in Experian Credit Information Company of India as well as Indian Bank’s 2.14% share in the same company. With the floor price set at Rs 70 per share, PNB’s stake in Experian will raise at least `29.4 crore for the bank, while Indian Bank would raise a minimum of `21 crore. The last date for submission of bids is September 28. Experian is majority-owned by GUS Holdings, which has a 66.72% stake in the company. The other Indian shareholders are Sundaram Finance (8%), Magma Fincorp (3%) and Federal Bank (2.14%).
Canara Bank sought bids for its stakes in 73 different companies. “The bids shall be accepted and evaluated based on Swiss challenge method,” the bank said in a bid document. Canara Bank did not specify the size of its stakes in each of these companies or the floor prices for the sale. The process of bidding, evaluation and completion of sale will be carried out between October 10 and November 5.
IDBI Bank also invited bids for its stake in 17 companies, including Haldia Petrochemicals, OCM and TN Industrial Explosives, without specifying floor prices for the sale. Bids must be submitted by October 11.
Mounting bad loans have taken a toll on PSBs’ capital position, leading them to offload their non-core assets. On Tuesday, the government said PSBs were offered `90,000 crore (of which `80,000 crore was in the form of bonds) in 2017-18 and securities worth another `65,000 crore are to be provided to them in the current fiscal. Any further infusion, if finally approved, ahead of an election year could be done through recapitalisation bonds — which will be the government’s off-Budget liabilities — to avoid worsening the fiscal deficit.