SAIL shortlists JPMorgan, Deutsche, four others for FPO

Source : PTI Sep 15 2010 , New Delhi

State-owned Steel Authority of India today said that six bankers, including JP 

Deutsche, four others shortlisted for managing the first phase of its upcoming Rs 8,000 crore FPO

"We have shortlisted six banks for our FPO. We have made them the offer, now they have to accept it," SAIL Chairman C S Verma told PTI.
He said SBI Capital, Enam Securities, Kotak Mahindra Capital and HSBC have also been shortlisted for managing the FPO, which is slated to hit the market in January or February, 2011.

Verma added that SAIL had not sought the Law Ministry's opinion as "there was no legal question involved" in the appointment of book runners and lead managers for the share sale.

Recent media reports suggested that bankers vying for the FPO had all offered to charge one-tenth of a paisa as their fee, which prompted SAIL to seek the Law Ministry's opinion on how to select the best candidate from the 17 firms that bid to manage the FPO.

The announcement comes after SAIL earlier this month said it will appoint up to six merchant bankers to advise it on the timing of the first tranche of its share sale.

The banks will manage the first phase of its 20 per cent share sale programme, under which the government plans to divest 5 per cent of its stake in the company, while the steel giant will issue additional shares equivalent to a 5 per cent stake.

Another 10 per cent stake will be sold under the second phase of the FPO, the timing of which will be decided later. The two-phase FPO may help raise a total of Rs 16,000 crore.

At present, the government holds a stake of a little over 85 per cent in SAIL and post-FPO, its equity in the company is expected to go down to about 69 per cent.

SAIL wants to part-fund its Rs 70,000 crore expansion programme with the proceeds from the share sale, while for the government, the stake dilution will help attain its disinvestment target of Rs 40,000 crore for this fiscal.

Shares of the company were trading at Rs 200.10 on the Bombay Stock Exchange today, up 0.08 per cent from the previous close.

SAIL to set up Rs. 60,000 crore steel project in Jharkhand

 

 Source:PTI:New Delhi, May 16, 2010

State-owned SAIL is mulling over setting up a steel project, at an estimated cost of Rs. 60,000 crore, in Jharkhand. 

The plant, which is expected to be built on the space belonging to a closed fertilizer mill in Sindri, Dhanbad district, would help the company raise its annual steel production to 60 million tonnes by 2020.

The steelmaker recently applied to the Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizers for setting up the 12 million- tonne per annum plant, government officials told PTI. 

“The integrated steel project would come up in two phases,” one of the officials said. 

As per the proposal, the PSU would also set up a 1.15 million-tonne coal or gas-based urea plant at the site. The loss-making fertilizer mill in Sindri had been lying shut since March 2002. 

The plan to utilise the land bank of closed fertilizer and cement mills for setting up steel mills is in line with a strategy outlined by Steel Secretary Atul Chaturvedi. 

Former Fertilizer Secretary Chaturvedi said that in order to avoid problems relating to land acquisition, public as well as private sector firms should seek land belonging to closed mills, especially ones located in the mineral-rich States of Jharkhand, Orissa and Chattisgarh. 

Meanwhile, the government set up a high-level committee of State industry ministers to prepare guidelines on the creation of industrial sites, comprising waste and fallow land. 

SAIL is currently in talks with South Korean steelmaker POSCO to jointly set up two steel plants, entailing an estimated investment of Rs. 15,000 crore in the country. 

It has also been approached by global firms like ArcelorMittal and Kobe Steel for possible business ventures.

C S Verma to be the next SAIL chief: Virbhadra

Source: PTI May 11 2010 , New Delhi

BHEL Director (Finance) C S Verma would succeed S K Roongta as chairman of SAIL, the biggest state-owned steel producer in the country.

"We have cleared BHEL's CS Verma's name for the post of next SAIL chairman," Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh told reporters here today.

Verma will take over on June 1 from Roongta, who retires by the end of this month.

The government's PSU headhunter Public Enterprise Selection Board (PSEB) on February 26 selected Verma for the top job at Steel Authority of India Ltd.

PSEB had named building construction firm NBCC Chairman and Managing Director Arup Roy Choudhury as its second choice.

As per information, a section of officials in the Steel Ministry wanted the panel suggested by PESB scrapped and the job to go to an Additional Secretary in another ministry.

However, Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh, approved the panel's recommendation, placed before him after vigilance scrutiny of the selected candidates, as per norms.