Muthoot Microfin IPO booked 79%, retail portion fully subscribed

Muthoot Microfin IPO consists of a fresh issue of 2.61 crore shares and an offer-for-sale of 0.69 crore shares

The Muthoot Microfin IPO has been subscribed 79 percent so far on the first day of bidding, December 18, with bids coming in for 1.91 crore shares as against an issue size of 2.43 crore shares.

Retail investors bought 1.32 times the allotted quota of shares. The portion set aside for non-institutional investors was subscribed 55 percent, the employees' portion was booked 1.22 times, while qualified institutional buyers were off to a slow start.

Ahead of the opening of the issue, anchor investors bought Rs 285 crore worth of shares in the microfinance institution.

Also Read: Should investors consider the IPO of this micro-finance company?

More than 20 institutional investors participated in the anchor book of the company, including marquee names like WCM International, JNL Multi-Manager International, North Carolina Supplemental Retirement Plans, Clearwater International Fund, Florida Retirement System, Morgan Stanley, Integrated Core Strategies, Copthall Mauritius Investment and Societe Generale.

Several insurance companies, including ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, HDFC Life Insurance, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance, SBI General Insurance, ICICI Lombard General Insurance, Cholamandalam MS General Insurance and Pramerica Life Insurance also invested in the UK-based private equity investor Greater Pacific Capital-backed company through the anchor book.

Also read: Muthoot Microfin IPO: Institutional investors buy Rs 285 cr shares via anchor book, issue opens on Dec 18

The price band for the offer, which will close on December 20, has been fixed at Rs 277-291 per share. The company plans to raise Rs 960 crore from the IPO. The offer consists of a fresh issue of 2.61 crore shares worth Rs 760 crore and an offer-for-sale of 0.69 crore shares worth Rs 200 crore by the existing shareholders, including investor Greater Pacific Capital WIV, which will sell off shares worth Rs 50 crore. The remaining shares worth Rs 150 crore will be sold by promoters Thomas John Muthoot, Thomas Muthoot, Thomas George Muthoot, Preethi John Muthoot, Remmy Thomas, and Nina George.

The Kochi-based microfinance institution recorded a 246 percent on-year growth in net profit at Rs 163.9 crore for the year ended March 2023 and revenue during the same period increased by 71.6 percent to Rs 1,428.8 crore. Its profit after tax for six months ended September FY24 increased 16.5-fold to Rs 205.2 crore compared to the year-ago period, while net interest income during the same period jumped 65.6 percent.

Also read: Muthoot Microfin IPO: 10 things to know before you invest in Rs 960-crore issue

Muthoot Microfin, a part of the Muthoot Pappachan Group, is a microfinance institution providing micro-loans to women customers with a focus on rural regions of India.