Pawan Hans sale: Govt to invite fresh bids for 100% stake; to soon issue EoI addendum post-ONGC board approval

New Delhi: The government will soon invite fresh bids for 100 percent stake sale in Pawan Hans by issuing an addendum to the disinvestment document as ONGC is ready to sell its entire stake in the company, an official said. Helicopter services provider Pawan Hans is a joint venture between the government, which holds 51 percent stake, and state-owned ONGC, which owns the remaining 49 percent shareholding. Pawans Hans has a fleet of 46 choppers. On 13 April, the government had issued the information memorandum for the 51 percent strategic stake sale in Pawan Hans and had sought Expression of Interest (EoI) from interested bidders by 18 June. About half a dozen bidders are believed to have submitted bids. On 2 July, ONGC wrote to the government saying that its board has resolved that it would prefer to exit Pawan Hans simultaneously with the government. Against this backdrop, the senior government official said an addendum to the existing document would be issued soon, seeking bids for 100 percent stake in Pawan Hans. “An addendum would be issued to the EoI (Expression of Interest) document issued on 13 April. The addendum would state that ONGC has expressed its interest in selling its 49 percent holding and fresh bids can be put in for the entire 100 percent stake,” the official told PTI. [caption id=“attachment_2496028” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. IBNLive[/caption] According to the official, the existing bids for the government’s 51 percent stake would stay. “We want to give other investors a chance in case they want to bid for entire 100 percent stake,” the official added. SBI Capital Markets is the transaction advisor for strategic disinvestment of Pawan Hans. The government had first floated an offer to sell its 51 percent stake in October last year, but in view of subdued response from bidders, the EoI was withdrawn in April this year. At that time, some investors had suggested that the government and ONGC should sell their stakes together. “Potential investors had then suggested that ONGC’s 49 percent stake too should be sold along with government’s 51 percent. They feared that ONGC holding 49 percent could mean government interference in some way,” the official said. Later on 13 April, the government came out with a fresh information memorandum for the strategic sale of Pawan Hans wherein bidders need to have a minimum net worth of Rs 500 crore. Among others, Pawan Hans provides seven choppers to ONGC for its off-shore helicopter requirements for crew change and production tasks, including night ambulance.