Government Targets BPCL Divestment for Over Rs.80,000 Cr

The Central government is looking for the divestment of state-owned refiner Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) to net the exchequer for more than Rs.80,000 crore, based on a valuation at a considerable premium to current prices, according to sources.

The government has received expressions of interest for the refiner from Vedanta Ltd and two global private equity funds. The sale of the government’s 52.98 percent stake in BPCL is a key part of the government’s Rs 1.75 lakh crore disinvestment target for this fiscal.

An official aware of developments states, “We are expecting a price of at least Rs.700-750 per share that includes a control premium given that the share price has previously reached close to Rs.540.”

An acquisition price of Rs.700 per share would equate to a premium of more than 60 percent on the closing price of Rs.433 for BPCL shares on Friday.

However, the Industry analysts said a valuation of Rs.700 or higher would not be surprising, given that India is the fastest-growing market for petroleum products across the world. Although, getting a high valuation could be difficult at this time as refining margins are down globally.