ONGC, OIL buy 10% govt stake in Indian Oil

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India Ltd have bought a 10 per cent stake in Indian Oil Corporation from the government for Rs 5,340 crore (Rs 53.4 billion).

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and OIL bought 5 per cent stake each at Rs 220 per share, sources privy to the development said.

An Empowered Group of Ministers headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram had on February 28 decided to sell the stake in IOC, the nation's largest oil firm, at a discount of 10 per cent through an off-market

deal.

Sources said the IOC scrip traded at about Rs 245 on that day and a 10 per cent discount to that price was calculated to arrive at a selling price of Rs 220 a share.

Also, Rs 220 is the three-month average trading price of IOC shares.

The sale of the 10 per cent stake, or 24.27-crore (Rs 242.7 million) shares, happened in an off-market transaction, with ONGC and OIL buying 5 per cent each, they said.