SBI Caps-Lazard banker for SCI sell-off
By Praveen Chandran | 14 Feb 2002
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Mumbai: The Union government has roped in the State Bank of India Capital Markets (SBI Caps)-Lazard consortium as the merchant banker for divesting 51 per cent stake in the public sector shipping giant, Shipping Corporation of India (SCI).
Sources close to the development said out of over 10 international consultancies, the government selected the SBI Caps-Lazard consortium to carry out the SCI
disinvestment. The other bidders were PricewaterhouseCoopers, DSP Merrill Lynch, Deolitte Touche Tochmatsu, Rabo India Finance, Deutshce Verkehrs Bank, Fieldstone Capital Services, IDFCI, ANZ Investment Bank, ABN Amro Asia, Ernst and Young with Moore Stephens, KPMG with American Marine Advisors, ICICI Securities and the IDBI-Sumitomo Bank-Care consortium.
The SBI Caps-Lazard consortium now will act as global advisors for offloading 51 per cent stake the government holds in the public sector shipping giant. Currently, the government holds a little over 80 per cent stake in SCI.
The government is divesting 51 per cent to a strategic investor (with a maximum of 25 given to a foreign partner). The government will retain 26 per cent while 3 per cent will be given to SCI employees. The remaining 20 per cent is already with public and financial institutions.
In the meantime, a series of international shipping majors have opened talks with major Indian shipping companies like Great Eastern Shipping and Essar Shipping for exploring possibilities for a joint bid. The deadline for submitting the expression of interest expires on 18 February.
Sources said international shipping companies like Teekay Shipping, Canada, and Exmar, Belgium, have already held talks with GE Shipping, while Essar Shipping is in dialogues with a other companies like Malaysia International Shipping Company. Companies like Reliance, Videocoon and Sahara have also shown interest in the divestment of SCI. Though both Essar and GE officials confirmed the development, they declined to give more details on their bidding programme.
The sources also said most foreign shipping lines like Maersk, Evergreen Marine and P&O Nedlloyd who earlier evinced keen interest seem to have now taken a cold feet due to the government's decision to restrict foreign equity participation up to 25 per cent in the shipping PSU. The SCI share price, which was hovering around Rs 25 when the government announced its divestment decision last month, has shot up to Rs 49 per share last week.
SCI, currently riding on a major downswing in the freight and charter markets, had posted a drastic fall in its net profits for the third quarter ended 31 December 2001. Its net profits fell 70.6 per cent during the third quarter to Rs 37.97 crore as compared to Rs 129.18 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. SCI's total income had declined by 16 per cent to Rs 726.82 crore from Rs 868.91 crore in the third quarter.
Sources close to the development said out of over 10 international consultancies, the government selected the SBI Caps-Lazard consortium to carry out the SCIdisinvestment. The other bidders were PricewaterhouseCoopers, DSP Merrill Lynch, Deolitte Touche Tochmatsu, Rabo India Finance, Deutshce Verkehrs Bank, Fieldstone Capital Services, IDFCI, ANZ Investment Bank, ABN Amro Asia, Ernst and Young with Moore Stephens, KPMG with American Marine Advisors, ICICI Securities and the IDBI-Sumitomo Bank-Care consortium.
The SBI Caps-Lazard consortium now will act as global advisors for offloading 51 per cent stake the government holds in the public sector shipping giant. Currently, the government holds a little over 80 per cent stake in SCI.
The government is divesting 51 per cent to a strategic investor (with a maximum of 25 given to a foreign partner). The government will retain 26 per cent while 3 per cent will be given to SCI employees. The remaining 20 per cent is already with public and financial institutions.
In the meantime, a series of international shipping majors have opened talks with major Indian shipping companies like Great Eastern Shipping and Essar Shipping for exploring possibilities for a joint bid. The deadline for submitting the expression of interest expires on 18 February.
Sources said international shipping companies like Teekay Shipping, Canada, and Exmar, Belgium, have already held talks with GE Shipping, while Essar Shipping is in dialogues with a other companies like Malaysia International Shipping Company. Companies like Reliance, Videocoon and Sahara have also shown interest in the divestment of SCI. Though both Essar and GE officials confirmed the development, they declined to give more details on their bidding programme.
The sources also said most foreign shipping lines like Maersk, Evergreen Marine and P&O Nedlloyd who earlier evinced keen interest seem to have now taken a cold feet due to the government's decision to restrict foreign equity participation up to 25 per cent in the shipping PSU. The SCI share price, which was hovering around Rs 25 when the government announced its divestment decision last month, has shot up to Rs 49 per share last week.
SCI, currently riding on a major downswing in the freight and charter markets, had posted a drastic fall in its net profits for the third quarter ended 31 December 2001. Its net profits fell 70.6 per cent during the third quarter to Rs 37.97 crore as compared to Rs 129.18 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. SCI's total income had declined by 16 per cent to Rs 726.82 crore from Rs 868.91 crore in the third quarter.
