PNB's Rs 3,000 cr public offer opens 7 March

By agencies   |   Wednesday, 16 February 2005, 20:30 IST
Printer Print Email Email
NEW DELHI: IndiaÂ’s second largest bank by net worth, Punjab National Bank has decided to hit the market on March 7 for raising close to Rs 3,000 crore through its second public offer of eight crore shares. "Our issue will open on March 7 and close on March 11. The price band of the issue will be declared a day before the issue opens," a senior PNB official said. The issue will be priced through the book-building process but the bank will fix a price-band in consultation with Finance Ministry. The bank has appointed five merchant bankers -- DSP Merrill Lynch, JM Morgan Stanley, Kotak Securities, I-Sec and Enam Financial to manage the public offer. Of the eight crore shares that will be offered, PNB will reserve 80 lakh shares for existing small shareholders and an equivalent amount for employees. The remaining 6.4 crore shares will be sold to the public, the official said. Going by the present market price of Rs 422 a share, PNB sources said the bank aims to mop up Rs 3,000 crore easily. The issue is slated to bring down Government's holding in the bank to 57 per cent from 80 per cent. PNB had earlier proposed to issue five crore shares to the public, but the Government has revised upwards the figure to eight crore shares.