GAIL’s share buyback
Date: 13 January 2021 Tags: MiscellaneousIssue
The board of directors of GAIL is set to consider a share buyback of shares which will distribute surplus reserves to shareholders including the Government of India.
Background
The centre has asked a number of public sector units to issue buybacks to help shore up its finances, which have been hit by the pandemic.
Details
Share buyback
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A share repurchase or buyback is a decision by a company to purchase its own stock from the market.
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Such a move reduces the number of outstanding shares of the company and tends to push up their price and is often undertaken when management considers the company’s shares undervalued.
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It is also a key way to transfer surplus earnings to shareholders and tends to lead to an increase in share prices.
Benefits to the government
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The government holds 52.1% stake in GAIL. In a recent share repurchase offer by NTPC, the government of India sold shares worth over Rs 1,066 crore back to the company accounting for around 47% of the shares.
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The government also received Rs 1,377 crore from a share buyback offered by NMDC taking up over 99% of the buyback offer.
GAIL
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GAIL is an Indian public sector natural gas processing and distribution company headquartered in New Delhi.
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Its business include natural gas, liquid hydrocarbon, liquefied petroleum gas transmission, petrochemical, city gas distribution, exploration and production, and electricity generation.
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GAIL was conferred with the Maharatna status on 1 Feb 2013, by the Government of India.