Hindustan Copper OFS Opens For Retail Investors After 3x Subscription

Shares of Hindustan Copper recovered on Wednesday after falling sharply in the previous session, as the government opened the retail portion of its Offer for Sale (OFS). The stock was trading at ₹541 on the BSE around 11:20 am, up ₹8.50, or 1.5%.

The retail bidding follows strong demand from non-retail investors on Tuesday, prompting the government to exercise the entire 3% greenshoe option. This has increased the maximum stake being offered from 3% to 6%.

OFS gets strong institutional response

The OFS has a floor price of ₹514 per share. If the government sells the full 6% stake, it could raise around ₹2,982 crore.

At least 10% of the shares on offer have been reserved for retail investors, while 25,000 additional shares have been earmarked for eligible employees.

Retail investors can submit their bids between 9:15 am and 3:30 pm through the dedicated OFS window on the NSE and BSE. Settlement of bids from both days is scheduled for August 27.

Hindustan Copper shares had declined 7.45% on Tuesday to ₹531.40 following the government's OFS announcement. The floor price of ₹514 was initially set at a 10.5% discount to the stock's August 24 closing price of ₹574.15.

Retail investors may not get full OFS discount

Analysts have cautioned that the headline discount may not necessarily translate into a similar effective discount for retail buyers.

Hindustan Copper is the country's only listed pure-play copper producer and has access to nearly 45% of India's copper ore reserves and resources, according to Anand Rathi.

The OFS is part of the Centre's broader PSU disinvestment programme. The government has raised ₹52,716 crore through disinvestment during the current financial year so far.