Centre shortlists six merchant banks to assist in HZL stake sale

The Centre has shortlisted six merchant bankers to assist the government in offloading its 29.5% residual stake in Hindustan Zinc in tranches. The merchant banks, which include ICICI Securities, SBI Capital Markets, HDFC Bank, IIFL Securities, Axis Capital and Citigroup Global Markets, made presentations before an inter-ministerial group on August 12. Post the presentations, the selected merchant bank would be notified. The selected investment bank would have to assist the government on the timing and modalities of the divestment, conduct market survey, hold domestic and international road shows to generate interest among prospective investors, and seek regulatory approvals, among others. They will have to prepare a list of domestic and international investors to be approached by them within seven days.