With strong demand from both institutional and non-institutional high networth investors, Bajaj Housing Finance’s initial public offer (IPO) has emerged as one of the most successful in recent times.
Its Rs 6,560-crore IPO received bids totaling over Rs 3.2 lakh crore on the last day of its issue — the highest ever. According to reports, Coal India Ltd (2008) and Mundra Port (2007) IPOs had topped Rs 2 lakh crore in subscription amounts before this.
The issue, subscribed by 63.6 times was the second-highest in recent times after Tata Technologies, which saw 69.4 times subscriptions among companies that raised over Rs 2,000 crore each since April 2023.
Tata Technologies’ IPO had received bids amounting to over Rs 1.5 lakh crore.
Qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) category was subscribed 209.36 times, the non-institutional investors’ category saw 41.5 times subscriptions, while the retail investors’ category received 7.02 times subscriptions.
The Bajaj Housing Finance IPO consists of a fresh issue of equity shares worth up to Rs 3,560 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of equity shares to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore by parent company Bajaj Finance. The price band for the IPO was set between Rs 66 and Rs 70 per share.
The share sale is being conducted to comply with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) regulations, which require upper-layer non-banking financial companies to be listed on stock exchanges by September 2025. Proceeds from the fresh issue will be used to strengthen the company’s capital base to meet future capital requirements.
“Strong parentage, the best credit rating, and impressive management team with an enviable execution track record help firmly position Bajaj Housing Finance in the structurally attractive housing finance space, amid favourable central/state government policies and regulatory environment as well as growing demand,” Emkay Global had said in a note to investors.
So far in current calendar, around 50 companies have raised over Rs 53,400 crore till August, as compared to Rs 49,435 crore mopped by 57 firms in 2023, according to the primedatabase.com.