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News Topical, Digital Desk : The central government has significantly reduced its stake through an Offer for Sale (OFS). The government, the promoter of the bank, sold 6% of its shares in the OFS held on December 2–3, 2025. According to the document, a total of 461.5 million shares were sold, reducing the government's holding from 79.60% to 73.60%. This entire offer was made in accordance with the guidelines set under the stock exchange mechanism. Another news, quoting Bloomberg, states that the government is preparing to sell approximately 60.72% of its stake in IDBI Bank. Based on market value, this deal is worth approximately $7.1 billion. The government is now inviting bids in this long-running privatization process. Simply put, IDBI Bank is looking for a new owner, and this process has now reached its final stage.
The central government has successfully completed its plan to sell its stake in Bank of Maharashtra. The government announced this OFS on December 1, 2025.
As planned, the window opened on December 2nd (for non-retail investors) on T-day and on December 3rd (for retail, employees, and those carrying forward unallocated bids from T-day). The offer was completed through the special OFS window on the BSE and NSE. According to the documents, the government had initially set a 5% base offer size—384.5 million shares. Additionally, there was an oversubscription option of 1%, or 76.9 million shares, to further increase the offer. Additionally, a separate reservation of 75,000 shares was kept for the bank's employees, as permitted under SEBI's OFS guidelines. Prior to this sale, the central government held a 79.60% stake in the bank—a total of 6,12,26,27,927 equity shares. After selling 46.15 crore shares in the OFS, the government's new holding has been reduced to 73.60%. This means that the government remains the majority promoter of the bank, but its stake has been significantly reduced. To complete this OFS, the government followed all the regulations set by SEBI and the stock exchanges. This included compliance with several circulars issued in 2023 and 2024—such as SEBI's "Comprehensive Framework on Offer for Sale," BSE's "Revised Operational Guidelines for OFS," and NSE's "Revised Operating Guidelines." The document contains detailed references to these circulars, demonstrating the transparency and regulatory compliance of the process. Interestingly, despite the OFS, the bank's total voting capital remained at 76,915,54,950 shares. This means the OFS directly impacted promoter holdings, not the bank's total share capital. The government report also stated that this disclosure is being made under SEBI Takeover Regulation 29(2) and is required to be submitted to the exchanges within two working days of the OFS closing. This report was filed under this legal obligation. Overall, Bank of Maharashtra's OFS has proven to be a major event for the market. It is not only part of the government's disinvestment plan, but will also be seen as a step towards increasing public shareholding in the banking sector.
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