British banking major Standard Chartered today said it has fixed the price at Rs. 104 for its Rs. 2,490-crore Indian Depository Receipts issue, the first such share sale in the country.
The lender, which is the oldest foreign bank in the country, had come out with a public offer of 24 crore IDRs, that include 3.6 crore receipts reserved for the anchor investors. The price—band of the issue was fixed at Rs. 100—115.
The IDRs are expected to be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange by June 11, the bank said in a press release here.
Every ten IDRs represents one Standard Chartered ordinary share. These shares will be allotted on or around June 7, with each new ordinary share having a nominal value of $ 0.50, the bank said.
The issue, which was open for subscription from May 25-28, was oversubscribed 2.2 times amid good demand for the units from the institutional investors, although it received a lukewarm response from the retail investors.
“The response to the IDR offer has been excellent. We have achieved a book that is well over two times covered despite market volatility. The IDR listing will further build on our brand presence in India, one of our key markets,” StanChart Group Finance Director Richard Meddings said.
The offer, which is the country’s first-ever IDR issue, received total demand for 44.68 crore receipts against 20.4 crore units on offer, thereby getting subscribed over 2 times.
Though the issue generated relatively little demand in the first three days of the offer, the final day of the issue saw a healthy participation from both institutional and retail investors.
An IDR represents ownership in shares of a foreign company. An IDR is bought and sold just like a regular stock.
The bank is giving a special 5 per cent discount to retail investors and employees.
Standard Chartered Bank is the country’s largest and the oldest foreign bank. It opened its first branch in April, 1858 in Calcutta and India accounted for over 20 per cent of the bank’s profit before tax in 2009.
