Bajaj Housing Finance to raise ₹6,560 cr at price band of ₹66-70; shares to list on Sept 16

Bajaj Housing Finance Limited (BHFL), finance service arm of Bajaj Finance, has set a price band of ₹66-70 per share for its initial public offering (IPO), which will open for subscription on September 9. The public issue comprises a fresh issue of ₹3,560 crore and an offer for sale of ₹3,000 crore by parent, Bajaj Finance. On the upper end of the price band, the total issue size is ₹6,560 crore and the market capitalisation of the Bajaj Group company is estimated at around ₹58,300 crore.

The three-day IPO of Bajaj Housing Finance will close on September 11, while the tentative listing dates of stocks on the BSE and NSE is September 16. The anchor bidding will open for a day on September 6, while the allotment of IPO shares will be finalised on September 12.

The housing finance company intends to use the net proceeds from issuance of fresh equities to augment its capital base to meet future business requirements of the company towards onward lending.

As per the DRHP filed with the SEBI, the company has reserved half of the issue for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), 15% for non-institutional investors (NIIs), and the remaining 35% for retail investors. The public offer also includes a reservation of equity shares for eligible employees.

In September last year 2023, the RBI had released the list of 15 NBFCs in the upper layer under scale based regulation for NBFCs. As per the RBI norm, Bajaj Housing Finance shares must be listed by September 2025 under the current regulatory established by the central bank. The board of directors of the company decided to list shares on stock exchanges on June 7, 2024.

Founded in 1926, the financial services businesses of the Bajaj Group are primarily carried out through subsidiaries of Bajaj Finserv - one of which is Bajaj Finance, the parent company of BHFL. The BHFL offers financial solutions such as home loans, loans against property, lease rental discounting, and developer financing to individuals and corporate entities to purchase and renovate homes and commercial spaces.

As on March 31, 2024, BHFL had a network of 215 branches spread across 174 locations in 20 states and three union territories, which are overseen by six centralised hubs for retail underwriting and seven centralised processing hubs for loan processing. The company has been assigned long term credit ratings of CRISIL AAA with stable outlook and ‘IND AAA/stable’ as well as short term of ‘CRISIL A1+ and IND A1+’ borrowings programme.

Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited, Bofa Securities India Limited, Axis Capital Limited, Goldman Sachs (India) Securities Private Limited, SBI Capital Markets Limited, Jm Financial Limited and Iifl Securities Ltd are the book running lead managers of the Bajaj Housing Finance IPO, while Kfin Technologies Limited is the registrar for the issue.

(DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed by investment experts on fortuneindia.com are either their own or of their organisations, but not necessarily that of fortuneindia.com and its editorial team. Readers are advised to consult certified experts before taking investment decisions.)