India’s HDB Financial to raise up to $1.5bn in IPO

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: India’s top private lender HDFC Bank said on Saturday its HDB Financial Services unit will raise up to 125 billion rupees ($1.5 billion) in its initial public offering (IPO).

Parent HDFC Bank, which holds a 94.6% stake in HDB Financial, will sell shares worth 100 billion rupees, the lender said, adding that the price and other details of the proposed IPO will be determined in due course.

Last month HDFC Bank approved raising 25 billion rupees through an issue of shares in the IPO, marking the group’s first public float in six years.

Incorporated in 2007, HDB Financial Services provides secured and unsecured loans and has more than 1,680 branches across India.

HDB Financial’s listing follows new norms introduced by the country’s central bank in 2022 that required large non-banking financial companies (NBFC) to be listed on stock exchanges by September 2025.

About 269 companies in India have raised more than $12.57 billion through IPOs so far this year, according to LSEG data, higher than the $7.42 billion raised in all of last year. That has propelled the country’s share in Asia equity capital market deals to a record high.

Bajaj Housing Finance went public earlier in September, driven by the requirement, and marked one of the best major listings in a red-hot Indian IPO market this year.

This week, Hyundai Motor India’s $3.3 billion IPO was oversubscribed by more than two times, attracting aggressive bidding from institutional investors, even though pricing concerns deterred retail participation.