HDB Financial among most subscribed billion dollar Indian IPOs in 4 years

HDB Financial Services Ltd.’s $1.5 billion initial public offering is set to become India’s most sought after large listing in at least four years on heavy bidding from foreign and domestic investors.

The offering from the shadow-lending unit of the country’s top private bank got bids for a little over two billion shares as of Friday afternoon in Mumbai, versus the 130.4 million shares available, according to data on the BSE’s website. Global investors, domestic mutual funds and financial institutions made up the bulk of the demand.

Individual investors who bid for more than 1 million rupees of shares were also among the biggest backers of the stock. The portion reserved for small investors was also fully subscribed.

The over 15 times-demand for HDB shares is the biggest since food delivery firm Eternal Ltd.’s $1.4 billion IPO was subscribed more than 29 times, exchange data showed.
The share sale comes amid a rebound in the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 Index, and may signal strong appetite for large Indian issuances ahead. The index is now less than 5% shy of its peak in September.

There are some potentially bigger deals expected later this year, including those of Tata Capital Ltd. and LG Electronics Inc.’s domestic unit.