Shares of were trading sharply lower on Wednesday morning after the of up to 4 per cent of the company’s equity at a floor price of ₹104 per share, a significant discount to the prevailing market price.
As of 10.47 am IST on the , IRFC shares were trading at ₹104.95, down ₹4.49 or 4.10 per cent from Tuesday’s closing price of ₹109.44. The stock hit a fresh 52-week low of ₹104.82 in early trade, with over 2.51 crore shares changing hands — pointing to heavy selling pressure. Sell orders were outpacing buy orders roughly 72:28.
The Ministry of Railways, acting on behalf of the President of India, notified stock exchanges on February 24 of its intent to divest up to 52.27 crore equity shares through the OFS mechanism. The base offer size is 26.14 crore shares (2 per cent of paid-up capital), with an equal-sized greenshoe option that could take the total deal size to ₹5,436.50 crore if fully exercised.
Non-retail investors, institutions and high-net-worth individuals, are bidding today, February 25, with the retail window opening tomorrow, February 26. Retail investors, defined as those bidding up to ₹2 lakh, account for 10 per cent of the offer size, or roughly 5.23 crore shares worth ₹543.65 crore. Goldman Sachs (India) Securities is acting as the sole broker for the sale. There is no retail or employee discount on the floor price.
The OFS is being undertaken to meet minimum public shareholding requirements under SEBI regulations. The government currently holds a dominant promoter stake in IRFC, which listed on exchanges in January 2021.
The stock is now down over 16 per cent year-to-date and nearly 15 per cent over the past year, though it remains up more than 276 per cent over three years.