Bengaluru: Bajaj Housing Finance’s IPO, one of India’s largest offerings this year, opens for public subscription on Monday after raising about $209 million from major institutional investors, with analysts predicting strong interest amid booming demand for home loans.
The $782 million IPO, which will make the company India’s most valuable listed home loan provider at a valuation of around $7 billion, will close on Wednesday. Shares are being issued in a price band of 66 rupees to 70 rupees apiece.
Bajaj Housing Finance is expected to benefit from rising home prices, driven by demand for luxury properties, which form a dominant part of its business.
In the IPO, Bajaj Housing Finance is issuing new shares worth $424 million, while parent Bajaj Finance is selling shares worth $357 million.
India’s booming stock market has seen about 200 companies raise more than $7 billion through IPOs so far this year, including high-profile offerings from Ola Electric Mobility and Bharti Hexacom, according to data from LSEG.
“With the primary markets doing well, Bajaj Housing Finance with a strong pedigree is definitely going to attract the interest of investors,” said Kranthi Bathini, equity strategist, WealthMills Securities.
Bajaj Housing Finance’s IPO has been subscribed by large investors such as the government of Singapore, BlackRock and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, who were allotted shares at the upper end of the price band in the so-called anchor book, the lender said late on Friday.
Anchor investors are high-profile institutional investors that are allotted shares before the subscription opens for retail and other investors, and have to commit to holding their shares for a certain period after listing.
India’s mutual funds picked up shares worth about $75 million, the lender said.
($1 = 83.9690 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Dimpal Gulwani in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
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