Cochin Shipyard shares fall 3% as Centre's OFS opens for retail investors after strong institutional demand

Shares of Cochin Shipyard Ltd slipped in Wednesday's early trade as the Centre's Offer for Sale (OFS) opened for retail investors, a day after the issue witnessed robust demand from institutional and non-retail investors.

At last check, the stock fell 2.98 per cent to hit a day low of Rs 1,405.10 on BSE. The OFS for non-retail investors opened on Tuesday, while retail investors can bid on Wednesday.

The government is looking to divest up to a 5.04 per cent stake in the state-run shipbuilder through the OFS, involving over 1.32 crore equity shares. As of the March 2026 quarter, the Centre held a 67.91 per cent stake in Cochin Shipyard. Retail investors owned 19.66 per cent of the company, while high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) held 0.73 per cent.

The OFS drew a strong response on its first day. According to Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Arunish Chawla, the base offer was subscribed 3.52 times by institutional and non-retail investors, prompting the government to exercise the entire green shoe option.

The floor price for the OFS has been fixed at Rs 1,400 per share. The government had initially offered a 2.52 per cent stake in Cochin Shipyard. Following the healthy subscription, it decided to exercise the full 2.52 per cent green shoe option, taking the total stake on offer to 5.04 per cent of the company's paid-up equity share capital.

The Cochin Shipyard OFS is the government's seventh disinvestment transaction in the current financial year.

So far in FY27, the Centre has diluted stakes through OFSs in Central Bank of India, Coal India, NHPC Ltd, NLC India Ltd, General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) and Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC).

For FY27, the government has budgeted to mobilise Rs 80,000 crore through disinvestment and asset monetisation.