Govt to exercise green shoe option to divest 6% stake in Bank of Maharashtra after 400% over-subscription

The government on Tuesday decided to exercise green shoe option with clear intention to divest 6 per cent stake in Bank of Maharashtra (BoM) through offer-for-sale following overwhelming response from investors on the first day of subscription.

The OFS of BoM opened for subscription earlier on Tuesday for non-retail investors at a floor price of Rs 54 per share.

On the first day, it subscribed over 400 per cent of the base size 38.46 crore shares, triggering exercise of green shoe option of additional 1 per cent.

The issue was subscribed 4.07 times of the base size, reflecting strong market confidence. Given the oversubscription, the government has exercised the green shoe option in full, taking the total divestment to 6 per cent of BoM’s paid-up capital, an official statement said.

This will ensure that BoM achieves the Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) norms, it said.

“Offer for sale in Bank of Maharashtra received overwhelming response in the markets today. The issue was subscribed to 400 per cent of the base size. The government has decided to exercise the green shoe option,” Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Arunish Chawla said in a post on X.

“Retail investors get to bid tomorrow on 3rd December 2025. Congratulations to the staff and leadership at the Bank of Maharashtra for outstanding financial performance over the last few years. Keep it going…,” he said.

The government encourages eligible investors to participate in the offer and partake in the value creation of the public assets, the statement said.

At the floor price the government would mop up about Rs 2,492 crore by divesting its 6 per cent stake in the state-owned lender.

“The Offer for Sale of a 5 per cent Government stake, along with a 1 per cent green shoe option, received an impressive 407 per cent bids in the non-retail segment, reflecting strong investor confidence in the public sector banks and robustness of Indian banking sector,” Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju said in a post on X.

The floor price for the Bank of Maharashtra OFS has been set at Rs 54 per share, reflecting a 6.34 per cent discount from its Monday’s closing price of Rs 57.66 apiece on the BSE.

The base offer comprises 38.46 crore shares, representing 5 per cent of paid up equity share capital of the bank, with an additional 7.69 crore shares, or 1 per cent stake, available under the green shoe option, taking the total to over 46.14 crore shares, or 6 per cent of the stake in the lender.

The government currently holds a 79.60 per cent stake in the Pune-based bank. With the stake dilution, the bank would be able to meet the MPS norm of 25 per cent as the government stake will come down below 75 per cent.

This is in line with the Securities Contract (Regulation) Rules issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, which mandate that all listed companies, including those in the public sector, must have a minimum public shareholding of 25 per cent.

Capital market regulator Sebi has given forbearance to CPSEs and public sector financial institutions till August 2026.

Other four lenders where the government’s stake is more than minimum public shareholding threshold are Indian Overseas Bank at 94.6 per cent, Punjab & Sind Bank 93.9 per cent, UCO Bank 91 per cent, and Central Bank of India 89.3 per cent.