Hindustan Aeronautics and Bharat Dynamics decline up to 11% on reports of stake sale by government

Shares of Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) and Bharat Dynamics (BDL) fell up to 11 percent after sources told CNBC-TV18 that the government plans to sell stake in both firms through the offer for sale (OFS) in the second quarter of this fiscal. As per the sources, the government will sell a 15-18 percent stake and is looking to raise Rs 3,000 crore from HAL and Rs 600-700 crore from BDL sale.

HAL declined as much as 11.6 percent to its day's low of Rs 1,040.90 per share on BSE. BDL, on the other hand, lost 3.7 percent in intra-day deals to Rs 413.85.

The government shareholding in Hindustan Aeronautics currently stands at 89.97 percent and for Bharat Dynamics, it currently stands at 87.75 percent.

Also, merchant bankers have been appointed for both OFS issues. The department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM) in January had invited bids from merchant bankers who were interested in running the OFS issues for HAL and BDL.

According to sources in the know, the government may start the minority stake sale with BDL. For the current fiscal, the government is likely to line up 7-8 OFSs. Sources close to the development said the government may look at raising Rs 30,000-40,000 crore odd via minority stake sales., which includes buybacks and IPOs.