HDFC Bank launches 15,500 crore share sale

Mumbai: HDFC Bank Ltd, India’s biggest private sector lender, has launched a share sale to raise up to 15,500 crore from domestic and foreign institutional investors. The fundraiser will comprise a mix of a qualified institutional placement (QIP) and American depository receipts (ADR), the company informed stock exchanges. Only domestic institutional investors will participate in the QIP.

Indian banks have been busy raising funds in the past 12-18 months, with several large QIP offerings from both private sector and state-owned banks. Last year, State Bank of India raised 15,000 crore through a QIP, while private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank raised ₹5,803 crore.

In December, HDFC Bank said it is planning to raise up to 24,000 crore through a combination of preferential allotment and QIP. Earlier in July, the bank had raised 8,500 crore from HDFC Ltd through a preferential allotment. In February 2015, HDFC Bank raised 10,000 crore through a mix of QIP and ADRs, with around 2,000 crore through the domestic QIP and the rest through an overseas share sale.

The lender has fixed a floor price of 2,179.13 for the QIP, according to the stock exchange filing.

Shares of HDFC Bank closed 1.4% lower on the BSE on Monday at 2,172.25.

“The bank is offering shares at a price of 2,169.9 per share. They are looking at a base size of 2,000 crore for the QIP offering and a cap of 3,750 crore,” said a person aware of the bank’s fundraising plans, on the condition of anonymity. “The rest of the capital will be raised from the ADR issuance.”

HDFC Bank intends to use the funds to strengthen its capital structure and ensure adequate capital to support growth and expansion, including enhancing its solvency and capital adequacy ratio, the lender said in its offer document.

Investment banks DSP Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and others are managing the HDFC Bank share sale.

The HDFC Bank share sale follows the successful initial share sale of the HDFC Group mutual funds business—HDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd—which sold shares worth 2,800 crore in its IPO that closed on 27 July.

The HDFC Asset Management IPO was subscribed over 83 times.

In March, HDFC Ltd raised Rs 1,896 crore through a QIP. It raised a further Rs 11,104 crore from top institutional investors like KKR, GIC and Premji Invest, among others.