The much-awaited Rs 8,000 crore
follow-on public offer (FPO) of Steel Authority of India (SAIL) is set to
hit the capital market by the end of next month, a source close to the development said.
"The FPO will hit the market by May-end. This is final," the source said on condition of anonymity. However, attempts to contact SAIL Chairman C S Verma went unanswered.
The offer, in which the government holds a stake of a little over 85 per cent, has failed to meet repeated deadlines since December last year, due to unfavourable market conditions and problems with
merchant bankers.
The delay in SAIL's FPO thwarted the achievement of the government's divestment target for the previous financial year.
Compared to the target it set itself of Rs 40,000 crore to be generated via disinvestment in state-owned firms, the government could only raise about Rs 22,000 crore. It has set itself a target to raise another Rs 40,000 crore in the current year as well.
The expected date for submission of a red herring prospectus to market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India could not be ascertained, but it is likely to be filed by middle May, the source said.
Verma had, meanwhile, at an interaction last month said: "It (the company's plan to file the red herring prospectus) may happen sometime in May."
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