Economy Ministry Instructed to Expedite Divestiture of State Firms

President Hassan Rouhani on Friday instructed the Ministry of Economy to speed up the process of divesting government stakes in state-affiliated companies.
In a talk with the minister, Farhad Dejpasand, Rouhani ordered the ministry to quickly create the conditions to sell shares of companies controlled by the government, public entities and military organizations via the stock market, the government news website dolat.ir reported.  
The Cabinet had earlier approved framework for divesting the government’s stakes in state-run companies. As per the mechanism, the government’s remaining shares in companies listed with Tehran Stock Exchange and Iran Fara Bourse (junior equity market) will be sold to public via two methods, namely through exchange-traded funds or book building--a process by which an underwriter attempts to determine the price at which an IPO will be offered. 
Price discovery in book building involves recording investor demand for shares before arriving at an issue price.