Bharat Petroleum likely to sell 7.3% treasury stock in bulk deal

Going by the current market cap of Rs 83,451.15 crore, 7.33 per cent stake in BPCL is expected to be valued around Rs 6,117 crore.

The management of Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) on Monday said that 2 per cent of its treasury stock will be transferred to a separate trust, while the remaining 7.33 per cent is likely to be sold in a bulk deal.

“We have 9.33 per cent treasury stock and 2 per cent of it will be transferred to an ESPS (employee stock purchase scheme) trust.

"A decision on the remaining 7.33 per cent is yet to be taken.

"The decision will be part of the RFP (request for proposal) that will be out within 15 days after the expressions of interest (EoIs) are received for disinvestment,” said N Vijayagopal, director (finance) of the company.

As of now, the last date to submit EoIs is September 30, and hence, RFP is expected to be ready by October 15.

The company added that since the total stake is below 10 per cent, an offer for sale (OFS) is not possible.

So, it is expected to be a block or bulk deal.

Going by the current market cap of Rs 83,451.15 crore, 7.33 per cent stake in BPCL is expected to be valued around Rs 6,117 crore.

BPCL is of the opinion that its divestment process may be over during the current financial year.

The Centre owns 52.98 per cent in the company, which is valued at around Rs 44,212 crore based on the current market cap.

The company also said that Oman has indicated its interest to sell the remaining stake in Bharat Oman Refineries (BORL) in Madhya Pradesh to BPCL. BORL became a subsidiary of BPCL only on March 22 this year.

Before that, it was a 50:50 joint venture between BPCL and Oman.

At present, BPCL owns 63.38 per cent in BORL, while the remaining stake is owned by OQ, which was previously known as Oman Oil Company (OOC).

“We have just opened a dialogue with Oman. Both the parties are interested. Since it is a commissioned deal, we will not be able to set a timeline to it,” added Vijayagopal.

On stake sale in Numaligarh refinery, the company added a consortium of Oil India and Engineers India has shown interest, while the Assam government also wants to pick some stake.

A deal in this regard is expected to be over before the divestment of government stake in BPCL.

The company said that its petrol sales are almost at pre-Covid levels.

On the other hand, diesel sales are still 8-9 per cent below last year’s levels.

Photograph: Sivaram V/Reuters