A total of 693.6 million shares, constituting a 17.14% stake, were offered by Iranian Privatization Organization on behalf of the government with a base price of 1,275 rials (about 3 cents) per share, 30% of which were to be paid in cash and the rest in four-year installments.
The consortium, made up of Civil Servants Pension Fund, Agricultural, Rural and Nomadic Pension Fund, and Social Security Investment Company, purchased the stake at a rate of 1,301 rials per share and increased its total stake in Alborz Insurance Company to 51.27%.
The two funds and SSCI already had a 33.93% stake in the insurer, Bourse 24 reported.
State-owned stakes in insurers, including Alborz, Dana and Asia, were primarily meant to go the private sector, but in an interesting twist, they were back in the public sector’s hands, according to Financial Tribune.
Morteza Lotfi, the managing director of the $9-billion SSCI,has repeatedly emphasized that the holding plans to downsize, as about 70% of its assets are either running at a loss or underperforming.
The investment arm Social Security Organization, also known by its Persian acronym Shasta, controls nine holdings operating in a wide range of sectors, including petroleum, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, cement, transportation and finance.