ESAF Small Finance Bank IPO subscribed 1.74 times on debut

ESAF Small Finance Bank IPO opens for subscription

The ESAF Small Finance Bank IPO saw a good debut on November 3 as investors bought 10.02 crore equity shares against an offer size of 5.77 crore equity shares, resulting in a 1.74 times subscription.

The support saw participation from all categories of investors with high networth individuals (non-institutional investors) buying 2.44 times the allotted quota followed by retail investors, who bid 1.97 times the portion set aside for them.

Qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) subscribed for 90 percent shares of the reserved portion while the part set aside for employees was subscribed 1.01 times.

The offer includes a reservation of Rs 12.5 crore worth of shares for the company's employees. The IPO excluding employees’ portion is the net issue.

Half of the net issue is reserved for qualified institutional buyers and 15 percent for HNIs and the rest 35 percent portion is reserved for retail investors.

Also read: ESAF Small Finance Bank IPO: Should you subscribe to Rs 463 crore issue?

The Kerala-headquartered small finance bank aims to mobilise Rs 463 crore via the maiden public issue, comprising a fresh issue of Rs 390.70 crore worth shares and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of Rs 72.30 crore shares by promoter and investors.

ESAF SFB has already raised Rs 135.15 crore from several anchor investors on November 2, including Ananta Capital Ventures Fund, ACM Global Fund VCC, BNP Paribas Arbitrage, Founders Collective Fund, Astorne Capital VCC, Copthall Mauritius Investment, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Company and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance.

The price band for the offer, which closes on November 7, has been fixed at Rs 57-60 per share.

Click Here To Read Moneycontrol's Exclusive Note on ESAF SFB IPO

The small finance bank will utilise issue proceeds for augmenting its Tier – I capital base to meet future capital requirements and for increasing business, which is primarily onward lending.

The public issue attracted a healthy response in the grey market, as shares were available at around 35 percent premium over the upper price band, analysts on anonymity said. The grey market is an unofficial platform for trading in the IPO shares till the listing.

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