The Indian government is offloading a stake of up to about 5% in shipbuilder Cochin Shipyard.
The base size of the offer has been set at 2.5%, amounting to about 6.6m shares, with an option to sell an additional 2.5% stake. The floor price of ₹1,540 ($18.3) was close to 8% discount to the stock’s Tuesday close, valuing the total stake at approximately $241m.
The Indian government held nearly 73% stake in the yard as of June 30, according to exchange data. The stake sale opened on Wednesday for non-retail investors, with the share price dropping some 5%. Retail investors will have an opportunity to buy the shares on Thursday.
Cochin was established in 1972 and is the largest shipbuilding and ship repair yard in India.
Early this year, the yard launched a 310-m-long new dry dock and a brand-new ship repair facility. India’s government official claimed at the time that the state-owned yard is going to become one of the most important hubs of ship repair and shipbuilding.
India stands outside the top 10 shipbuilding nations globally with a market share of less than 1%, but the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, is aiming for a top five place in the future, with Cochin setting out to double turnover within four years.
In May this year, UK OSV owner and operator North Star contracted Cochin for a hybrid service operations vessel (SOV) bound for long-term charter at the East Anglia Three offshore wind farm, while in June Norwegian mini-bulker giant Wilson, controlled by shipowner Kristian Eidesvik, signed up for eight energy-efficient newbuilds in a deal worth about $132m on top of the six ships ordered last June.
