PFC To Acquire Government's Entire Stake In REC

On Wednesday, state-owned Power Finance Corporation (PFC) said that it will be acquiring the entire 52.63 percent stake of the government in REC at Rs 14,500 crore by the end of the month. The move will help the government meet its disinvestment target for the current financial year.

In December 2018, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had provided its in-principle approval for PFC to acquire state-owned REC Ltd.

In a regulatory filing, PFC said that as per the proposal it will acquire about 104 crore shares or 52.63 percent of the government stake in the REC at Rs 139.50 per share. It further said that the acquisition would be completed by the end of March, which will mean the government would receive the sale proceeds with the current fiscal.

It also said that both the companies would continue to remain state-owned. The statement said that PFC and REC are both Navratna central public sector enterprises and have combined annual revenue of about Rs 50,000 crore.

For the financial year ending March 2019, the government had proposed to raise Rs 80,000 crore through disinvestment and has so far reached Rs 56,473.32 crore of the target. When the PFC-REC deal completes, it would increase to Rs 70,000 crore.