The government on Wednesday extended the deadline to submit preliminary bids for the IDBI Bank privatisation till January 7. The government and LIC together are looking to sell 60.72 per cent of IDBI Bank and had invited bids from potential buyers in October. The last date for submitting an Expression of Interest (EoI) or preliminary bids was December 16.
Following that transaction advisors received requests for an extension of the deadline. In a notice, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) said the last date for submission of EoI is January 7, 2023, instead of December 16, 2022. Also, the last date for submission of physical copies of the EoIs has been extended to January 14, from December 23. The government and the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) hold 94.71 per cent of IDBI Bank and are looking to offload 60.72 per cent in the state-owned bank. The successful bidder will have to make an open offer of acquisition of 5.28 per cent of the public shareholding.