Bandhan Bank gets Sebi nod for Rs2,500 crore IPO

New Delhi: Private sector lender Bandhan Bank Ltd has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to raise an estimated amount of over Rs2,500 crore through an initial public offering (IPO).

The Kolkata-based bank had filed draft papers with Sebi on 1 January and obtained “observations” from the regulator on 28 February, as per the latest update with the markets watchdog.

Sebi’s “observations” are very important for any company to launch public issues and rights issue.

According to the draft papers, Bandhan Bank’s IPO comprises fresh issue of up to 97,663,910 equity shares and an offer for sale of up to 14,050,780 scrips by International Finance Corp. (IFC) and up to 7,565,804 shares by IFC FIG Investment Co.

The issue, which is touted as the biggest banking sector IPO till date, is expected to raise over Rs2,500 crore, merchant banking sources said. The equity shares are proposed to be listed on BSE and NSE.

Kotak Mahindra Capital Co. Ltd, Axis Capital Ltd, Goldman Sachs (India) Securities Pvt Ltd, JM Financial Institutional Securities and JP Morgan India Pvt. Ltd are the book-running lead managers to the issue.

Bandhan Bank is the first instance in India when a micro-finance entity transforming into a universal bank. In April 2014, the Reserve Bank of India had granted banking license to Bandhan Financial Services as well as IDFC.