Mortgage financier Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd has launched a qualified institutional placement (QIP) offering to raise funds from institutional investors, the company said in a stock exchange filing on Wednesday.
Indiabulls aims to raise around ₹735 crore through the QIP, according to a person aware of the company’s fundraising plans. A QIP is a fundraising route that allows listed companies to raise capital through equity or equity-linked instruments quickly.
Indiabulls has set a floor price of ₹206.7 per share. On Wednesday, the company’s shares closed at ₹201.15 apiece, down 0.54% on the BSE, while the benchmark Sensex closed trading at 38,193.92 points, down 0.45%.
The company intends to use the proceeds from the share sale to augment its capital adequacy ratio and maintain liquidity to meet funding requirements of its business activities, it said in an offer document filed with the exchanges. IDFC Securities and SBI Capital Markets are advising Indiabulls Housing on the fundraise.
In a separate filing, the company said that it is exploring various options for a partial divestment of its equity shareholding in UK-based OakNorth Bank Ltd, in one or more tranches. “The divestment shall result in boosting capital adequacy ratio and shall free up capital to grow the company’s loan book. The firm had invested ₹663 crore in November 2015 for a 40% stake in the bank. Within two years of this, in November 2017, the company recouped its investment by selling approximately 10% of the bank to the government of Singapore-owned investment arm GIC for ₹770 crore,” Indiabulls Housing Finance filing added.
Founded in 2015, OakNorth Bank has grown its deposits to just under £3 billion and its loan book to over £4 billion, the company added.
Last month, Sameer Gehlaut, co-founder and chairman of Indiabulls Housing Finance, stepped down from his position in the mortgage lender. Gehlaut, who was replaced by S.S. Mundra, former deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India, took charge as the chief executive of subsidiary Indiabulls Ventures.
Gehlaut will continue as a non-executive, non-independent director of Indiabulls Housing Finance and will focus on growing the consumer finance and healthcare business through Indiabulls Ventures.
