MUMBAI: The Centre is offloading up to 6% stake in the state-run Bank of Maharashtra through an offer for sale (OFS) to meet the 25% minimum public shareholding norms.
The sale includes a base offer of 5% with an option to sell an additional 1%. Bidding will open for non-retail investors on December 2, while retail investors can participate on December 3.
The floor price for the sale is set at 54 rupees per share, compared with the last close price of 57.65 rupees.
At current market prices, the stake sale is expected to fetch around Rs 2,600 crore.
In an an X post, the department of investment and public asset management (Dipam) secretary Arunish Chawla said, “Offer for sale in Bank of Maharashtra opens tomorrow for non-retail investors. Retail investors can bid on Wednesday. Government offers to disinvest 5% equity in the bank with an additional 1% as a green shoe option.”
The Centre currently holds 79.60% stake in the Pune-headquartered bank. The dilution will bring the shareholding below 75%, helping the bank comply with the Sebi mandate that all listed companies have a public shareholding of at least 25%. Public sector entities have been given time until August 2026 to meet the threshold as many of them don’t have 25% public float.
Equity shares of Bank of Maharashtra closed 1.6% lower on Monday but are up 10.5% so far in 2025.
Bank of Maharashtra had done a Rs 3,500-crore qualified institutional placement in October 2024 to bolster its core capital and move closer to meeting minimum public shareholding norms.
Apart from Bank of Maharashtra, the government owns much more than 75% in four other banks--Indian Overseas Bank (94.6%), Punjab & Sind Bank (93.9%), Uco Bank (91%) and Central Bank of India (89.3%).