Bumper Listing: Bajaj Housing Finance Shares Debut At 114% Premium From IPO Price; Doubles Returns

Bajaj Housing Finance made a stellar debut on the stock market on Monday, September 16, delivering impressive returns to investors. The company's shares were listed at Rs 150 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), reflecting a premium of 114.29% over the issue price of Rs 70 per share. Similarly, on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Bajaj Housing Finance shares began trading at Rs 150 per share.

The stellar listing was anticipated by market analysts, who predicted a strong debut for Bajaj Housing Finance. The grey market premium (GMP) for the IPO indicated that investors could expect multibagger returns upon listing, which materialized as the stock price surged over 100%.

This exceptional listing performance is underpinned by the robust demand for Bajaj Housing Finance's initial public offering (IPO), which saw a record level of subscription. The IPO received an overwhelming response, attracting bids exceeding Rs 3 lakh crore in value.

Bajaj Housing Finance's IPO was subscribed 63.61 times, with investors placing bids for over 4,628 crore equity shares against the 72.75 crore shares on offer. With total applications valued at nearly Rs 3.24 lakh crore, Bajaj Housing Finance's IPO stands as one of the most highly subscribed offerings of the year.

The bidding window for the IPO opened on September 9 and closed on September 11, 2024. The allotment of shares was finalized on September 12, with the company listing on September 16, 2024.

The price band for Bajaj Housing Finance's IPO was set between Rs 66 and Rs 70 per share. At the upper end of this band, the company raised Rs 6,560 crore through the offering. The IPO comprised both a fresh issue of 50.86 crore equity shares, amounting to Rs 3,560 crore, and an offer-for-sale (OFS) component of 42.86 crore shares, valued at Rs 3,000 crore.

The funds raised from the fresh issue will be used to meet the company's growth objectives, while the OFS allowed existing shareholders to partially divest their holdings.

The IPO was managed by a consortium of book-running lead managers, including Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd, Axis Capital, BofA Securities India Ltd, Goldman Sachs (India) Securities, JM Financial, SBI Capital Markets, and IIFL Securities. Kfin Technologies served as the IPO registrar.

Bajaj Housing Finance Ltd., a subsidiary of Bajaj Finance Ltd, is a non-deposit-taking housing finance company (HFC) primarily focused on mortgage lending. The company has been in operation since FY18 and has established itself as a significant player in the housing finance sector, with an asset under management (AUM) of Rs 97,071 crore as of the end of FY24.

Between FY22 and FY24, Bajaj Housing Finance's AUM grew at an impressive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.9%. Analysts believe that the company is well-positioned to benefit from the growing demand in the housing finance industry and deliver strong growth in the future.