Dana Insurance Co. cedes 5% of shares in IPO

TEHRAN, Aug. 17 (MNA) - Iranian state-run Dana Insurance Company sold 5 percent of its shares on the Tehran Stock Exchange in an initial public offering on Tuesday.

The government raised 13.7 billion rials ($1.4 million) from more than 5 million Dana shares sold on Tuesday, the TSE said on its website. The stock sold in nine minutes, representing 614 trades, the TSE said.

 Dana is the third insurance company in which the government has offered shares, after Asia and Alborz. The government had a 61 percent stake in Dana before the sale, the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network reported.

 The Social Security Organization is the second-largest shareholder, with more than 23 percent, with the rest owned by Iranian employees' pension and investment funds.

 The Dana IPO is part of an effort by Iran's government to sell state assets to reduce public debt and boost the economy. The country's constitution requires the government to sell many of the companies it owns. It is allowed to keep a 20 percent stake in each. Some government-owned companies are excluded from the sales, such as Bank Melli and Iran Insurance.

 According to Iran's Fourth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2005-2010), the Iranian Privatization Organization, affiliated to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, is in charge of setting prices and ceding shares to the general public and on the stock market.

 In 2007, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a directive ordering government officials to speed up implementation of the policies outlined in the amendment of Article 44, and move towards economic privatization.

 MG

MNA

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