BPCL stake sale is ‘event risk’\, too little data: Fitch

Industr

BPCL stake sale is ‘event risk’, too little data: Fitch

Fitch Ratings on Wednesday said the potential privatisation of BPCL was an “event risk” as there was little information about bidders and potential transaction structure.

The rating agency affirmed Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd’s (BPCL) long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR) at ‘BBB-’ The outlook is ‘negative’.

“Fitch equalises BPCL’s rating with that of its largest shareholder, the India sovereign (BBB-/Negative)... due to the strong likelihood of government support,” it said.

“We continue to treat the potential divestment of BPCL as an event risk, as there is little information about bidders, valuation, and the potential transaction structure, especially as BPCL owns assets across many verticals and bidders may not be interested in all of them,” Fitch said.

The deadline of September 30 for the submission of expressions of interest has been extended thrice since the initial announcement in November 2019.

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