Iran Gov’t to Unveil New Divestiture Scheme

The government will unveil a plan this week for the divestiture of state-owned companies in the stock market, the economy minister said. 
Speaking on a state radio program, Farhad Dejpasand said the new plan modifies past divestiture methods, the ministry’s news agency Shada.ir reported. 
The new scheme comes after the government was unable to find buyers in the stock market for its remaining stake in five companies.  
The snag in the past procedure lies in the fact that the government had offered shares in blocks of millions of dollars each and required investors to buy the blocks – a tough precondition many could not afford.
The minister did not elaborate, but there are speculations that the government may advance the new divestiture process with the help of exchange-traded funds.