SCI disinvestment: Govt shortlists MEIL, ex-SCI employee consortium & US-based company

• The list of shortlisted bidders includes US-based Safesea, Hyderabad-based MEIL and a consortium led by non-resident Indian businessman Ravi Mehrotra

• The three bidders have also received the security clearance

New Delhi: The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) has shortlisted three bidders for the next stage of the disinvestment process of Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), sources aware of the matter told PSU Watch. The list of shortlisted bidders includes US-based Safesea, Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL), and a consortium led by non-resident Indian businessman Ravi Mehrotra, who started his career in the shipping industry with SCI before joining London-based Foresight Group in 1984.

The government is looking to offload 63.75 percent in SCI through strategic disinvestment, along with transfer of management control.

SCI disinvestment: All 3 bidders have received security clearance

According to sources, the three bidders who have been shortlisted for the next stage of the disinvestment process have met the technical and financial criteria and have also received the security clearance. The three bidders will now be issued a request for proposal (RfP). They will be signing a confidentiality agreement under which they will be allowed to carry out due diligence on the shipping PSU.

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The backdrop

The deadline for submission of Expressions of Interest (EoI) for SCI disinvestment closed on March 1. The government had floated a preliminary information memorandum (PIM) on December 22, 2020 and had invited global bids for the process. RBSA capital advisors LLP has been appointed as the transaction advisor for advising and managing the strategic disinvestment process. The Cabinet had approved the disinvestment of SCI in November 2020 along with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Container Corporation of India (CONCOR). However, the process got pushed to 2021-22 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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