Bajaj Housing Finance stock rose as much as 130% to 161 Rupees before paring some gains to trade at 125% higher. File

Shares of Bajaj Housing Finance more-than-doubled in their trading debut on Monday (September 16, 2024), giving the company a market capitalisation of 1.34 trillion Rupees ($16 billion) and making it most valuable listed home loan financier.

The stock rose as much as 130% to 161 Rupees before paring some gains to trade at 125% higher. The stock was listed at 150 Rupees on the National Stock Exchange of India, compared with an offer price of 70 Rupees.

The second-biggest home loan financier by Assets Under Management (AUM), Bajaj Housing Finance’s $782 million IPO had attracted bids worth about $38.60 billion last week, making it the most sought-after public listing this year in a red-hot IPO market.

Backed by the 100-year-old Bajaj group, the offering drew investors due to its pedigree, an ongoing IPO euphoria and booming demand for luxury homes, that is set to push home prices higher in the country.

A rally in the Indian stock market has resulted in more than 200 companies raising more than $7 billion this year, more than double the amount raised during the same period last year, London Stock Exchange Group data showed. ($1 = 83.8890 Indian Rupees)

Photo: Facebook/@Bajaj Housing Finance Limited

The ₹6,560-crore initial public offer of Bajaj Housing Finance got fully subscribed within hours of opening for bidding on Monday (September 9, 2024) and ended the day with 2 times subscription.

The initial share sale received bids for 1,46,58,24,030 shares against 72,75,75,756 shares on offer, reflecting 2.01 times subscription, as per NSE data.

The portion meant for non-institutional investors fetched 4.35 times subscription while the quota for Retail Individual Investors (RIIs) got subscribed 1.50 times. The category for Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) received a 1.07 times subscription.

Bajaj Housing Finance on Friday said it has collected ₹1,758 crore from anchor investors.

The initial share sale will conclude on September 11.

The price band for the offer has been fixed at ₹66-70 per share.

The IPO has a fresh issue of equity shares of up to ₹3,560 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of equity shares to the tune of ₹3,000 crore by parent Bajaj Finance.

The share sale is being conducted to comply with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) regulations, which require upper-layer non-banking finance companies to be listed on stock exchanges by September 2025.

Proceeds from the fresh issue will be used to augment the company’s capital base to meet future capital requirements.

Bajaj Housing Finance is a non-deposit-taking housing finance company registered with the National Housing Bank since September 2015. It offers financial solutions for purchasing and renovating residential and commercial properties.

It has been identified and categorised as an “upper layer” NBFC by the RBI in India and its comprehensive mortgage products include home loans, loans against property, lease rental discounting and developer financing.

Aadhar Housing Finance and India Shelter Finance are two housing finance companies that have been listed on the stock exchanges in recent months.

Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd, BofA Securities India Ltd, SBI Capital Markets Ltd, Goldman Sachs (India) Securities Private Ltd, Axis Capital and JM Financial Ltd are the book-running lead managers that will manage the company’s public issue.