New Delhi: The Alternative Mechanism, empowered by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, comprising Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs and Jyotiraditya M Scindia, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, has approved the highest bid of Star9 Mobility Private Ltd for the sale of entire GoI’s shareholding – 51 per cent of shareholding – of Pawan Hans Limited (PHL) and transfer of management control.
PHL is a joint venture of GoI and ONGC providing helicopter and aero mobility services. GoI holds 51 per cent of the shares in the company and ONGC holds the balance 49 per cent. ONGC has earlier decided to offer its entire shareholding to the successful bidder identified in the GoI strategic disinvestment transaction, on the same price and terms as GoI.
CCEA had approved the strategic disinvestment of the entire GoI stake in PHL in October, 2016. The transaction had been attempted thrice in the past. In the first round, the Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM) was issued on 13 October 2017 seeking Expressions of Interest (EOI). Out of four EOIs received, only one was found eligible and the transaction was cancelled.
As per extant procedure, the reserve price for the sale of 51 per cent shareholding of PHL was fixed at Rs 199.92 crore, on the basis of valuation carried out by experts (transaction adviser and asset valuer). Thereafter, the three bids were opened in the presence of the bidders. All three bids were found to be valid.
Star9 Mobility Private Ltd, a consortium of Big Charter Private Limited, Maharaja Aviation Private Limited and Almas Global Opportunity Fund SPC emerged as the highest bidder quoting Rs 211.14 crore, which was above the reserve price. The other two bids were for Rs 181.05 crore and Rs 153.15 crore. Following due deliberations, the financial bid of Star9 Mobility Private Limited has been accepted by the government.
The strategic disinvestment transaction was implemented through an open, competitive bidding process supported by a multi-layered consultative decision making mechanism involving Inter Ministerial Group, Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment and the empowered Alternative Mechanism. The transaction now moves to the concluding stage. /BI/
