The government will disinvest 26% equity share capital of Bangalore-based public sector enterprise Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) out of its shareholding of 54.03% along with management control.
The department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM) has set the minimum net worth requirement for bidders at Rs 1400 crore, and has kept the last date for submitting bids at March 1, 2021.
“Disinvestment will be through a two-stage competitive bidding process,” the department said in the preliminary information memorandum issued on Sunday.
Companies, limited liability partnerships (LLPs) and funds eligible to invest in India can participate in the bidding process, however, government companies have been barred from participating.
Consortium bidding has also been permitted where lead member must have a minimum 51% stake in the consortium. The lead member should have profit after tax in at least three years out of immediately five preceding years.
Non-core land and assets will be hived off and will not be a part of disinvestment, as per details in the preliminary information memorandum. SBI Capital Markets Limited (SBICAP) will be the transaction advisor to advise and manage the strategic disinvestment process.
The company manufactures a variety of heavy equipment, such as that used for earthmoving, transport and mining. At the current market price, a 26% sale could fetch about Rs 1,000 crore to the exchequer. Shares of BEML closed at Rs 974.25, on Friday.
The government is aggressively going ahead with privatisation of state-run companies such as Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Container Corporation of India, Shipping Corporation of India and Air India.
The government had set a disinvestment target of Rs 2.1 lakh crore for the ongoing fiscal year, of which over Rs 90,000 crore is expected from the sale of stake in financial institutions including LIC and IDBI Bank, while the larger chunk is expected from the divestment of public sector enterprises.
