State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on Monday said it has suggested the government that the company's stock be split ahead of a planned follow-on public offer (FPO) in March 2011.
"We would like that ONGC is widely held. It would be better to have more retail investors. The current price of over Rs 1,300 is a case for share split," ONGC Chirman and Managing Director R S Sharma said on the sidelines of the Petrotech-2010 oil & gas conference here.
ONGC, he said, has sent its written recommendation for a share split to the government.
"Today, ONGC is priced at Rs 10 per share. We have suggested it can be split into two," Sharma added.
He said ONGC will be ready for an FPO in last quarter of current financial year. "We are in readiness. We know the process."
Besides, Sharma said the process of appointing five independent directors on the ONGC board is on and the company will shortly meet the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi's) listing requirements.
ONGC has six functional directors besides chairman and managing director. It also has two government appointed nominee directors taking the total strength to nine. Besides, the company currently has four independent directors and it needs five more to meet Sebi's listing requirements.
The government, planning to sell 5 per cent of its shares through the FPO in March 2011, expects to mop-up Rs 10,800 crore in the process.
Post offer, the government shareholding in ONGC will come down to 69.14 per cent from the current 74.14 per cent.
Last month, ONGC said it has appointed two international auditors - DeGolyer and MacNaughton and Gaffney, Cline and Associates - to certify its oil and gas reserves.
ONGC, which usually gets its reserves audited every five years, is getting a certification in the third year because of the planned FPO.
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