The floor price of Gail has been set at Rs.185 per share, which is at a discount of 5.6% to the closing price of the stock on NSE and BSE. The offer has been priced at the six-months average price of the share but at 16% discount to the three-months average. Retail investors would be entitled to a 5% discount on the final issue price. They are required to bid for a minimum of 30 shares and in multiples of 30. Government of India is reducing its stake by 10% to 56%. 5% shares has been reserved for the employees.

24th February 2004: The promoters of Idea Cellular may seek permission from the company’s lenders to transfer a sizeable block of shares in excess of 30% to a strategic partner. Idea officials said 51% of the company’s shares are pledged with its leaders as part of its financial closure agreement. Idea Cellular is also bound by non-disposal undertakings to its lender for an additional 25% shares. This means that 76% of Idea’s equity is blocked and cannot be transferred, either between existing shareholders or to new investors, without the lenders’ approval. Under present circumstances, Idea cellular has a 24% block of free shares that may be offloaded in equal measure by its three principal stakeholders in proportion to their respective 33% holdings. This means that the Tatas, AV Birla group and AT&T Wireless can offload roughly 8% (33% of 24%) each. The existing stakeholders in Idea or new investors also have the option to acquire the pledged shares if approved by the lenders. The latest developments come at a time when the DoT has just notified intra-circle merger guidelines for full-mobility players, and Idea Cellular is full of offers to offload equity to strategic investors.

25th February 2004: The proposed Initial Public Offer (IPO) of Petronet LNG is under the lens of SEBI for alleged violation of disclosure norms. SEBI has taken note of some additional disclosures made by the company, which were not part of the original prospectus submitted to it. SEBI has sent a letter to SBI caps, the lead manager to the Petronet LNG IPO, asking for an explanation on the company making additional disclosures outside its prospectus. SEBI questioned how the Company could give additional details to investors when they were not part of the offer document and if the facts were accurate, they should have formed part of the due diligence and included in the document. This is the second time Petronet LNG IPO is running into trouble. Prior to this there was a clash between the lead managers to the IPO and the Petronet LNG management on the price of the IPO. While the company management was pushing for a price band of Rs. 16-18 per share, the merchant bankers were of the opinion that anything above a price band of Rs. 10-12 would be risky. Subsequently, the company fixed a price band of 13-15 per share. Petronet will be issuing 26.1 crore shares, accounting for 34.8% of the company’s paid up capital, through the IPO. The issue will open on March 1 and will remain open till March 9.

Lyka Labs is to raise $6.5m through global depository receipts (GDR’s). The board had given the approval for the proposal. The funds raised through issuance of GDR’s will be partly used to finance the capital expenditure and working capital needs. For the approval of the proposal shareholders’ meeting is going to be held on March 20.

The government plans to offload its remaining 5% holding in Indian Petrochemicals Corporation (IPCL) to its employees at one-third the final book-building price. The government has offered for sale, a 29% stake in IPCL from its holding of 34%. This 29% offer for sale includes the 5% offered to Reliance at a 5% discount to the floor price of Rs 170 per Rs 10 share. Reliance, which holds a 46% stake in IPCL, has decided against participating in the offer to increase preferring a wider spread of equity amongst investors