NIDC to open bids for auction of 10.7 lakh units of Nabil promoter scrip on April 28

ShareSansar, April 23:

NIDC Development Bank is opening the bids for the auction of 10.76 lakh units of group B promoter shares of Nabil Bank Limited on April 28.

According to a notice issued by the development bank today, the closed bids will be opened at its head office at Dubarmarg in Kathmandu at 11:00 AM in presence of the bidders and concerned officials.

The state-run development bank had invited the bids on March 31 in an attempt to end cross-holding of BFI scrips as directed by the central bank.

The minimum bid amount was set at Rs 1,254, and that the interested applicants had to bid for at least 100 units of the scrip.

The minimum bid amount was higher than the last traded price of Nabil’s promoter shares at NEPSE, which stands at 1,250.

The interested bidders had to submit the closed bids at NIDC’s head office or its branches at New Road,  Biratnagar, Pokhara and Dhangadhi.

The tender bid form costs Rs 500 and the bidder must deposit at least 2.5 percent of the total bid amount in advance.

This is the fourth time NIDC is trying to auction the promoter shares of Nabil it has been holding for years now.

Though it tried to square off all the promoter shares in each of the earlier auctions, they could not woo enough bidders as investors complained that the minimum bid amount fixed by NIDC was high.

But a senior NIDC official told ShareSansar, they could not quote the minimum bid amount much lower than the existing market rate since it could "raise many eyebrows".

"We are a state-run institution, and so much so, that the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority has even directed us to appoint a focul person with regards to any major decision taken by us."

But many share investors are not convinced. They believe that NIDC is setting the minimum bid amount high on purpose so that the share auction becomes just formality by and large, and it can continue to reap benefit from the cross-holding.