MUMBAI – Bajaj Finance Ltd said that the company has launched the share sale programme for qualified institutional buyers on Monday, and the floor price for the same has been set at Rs 7,533.81 a share.
The floor price is at a marginal discount to the closing price of the stock. The stock settled at
Rs 7,562.05 on the National Stock Exchange, up 2% from the previous close.
Last month, the non-bank finance major received board approval for raising up to Rs 10,000 crore through qualified institutional placement issue and convertible warrants.
The company plans to raise up to Rs 8,800 crore through the QIP issue, and Rs 1,200 crore via convertible warrants issue to promoter Bajaj Finserv.
Given the company’s strong position in the NBFC space, better earnings, and capital profile, the QIP issue is expected to receive a good response from institutional investors.
The fundraising is expected to further beef up Bajaj Finance’s capital and support the company’s expansion plans.
Its capital adequacy ratio as of September end, was 23.19%, with tier-1 capital at 21.88% As of September end, Bajaj Finance had a consolidated net liquidity surplus of about Rs 11,400 crore, according to company disclosures. The number of new loans booked by the company in the last quarter rose 26% on year to 8.53 million.
While the company did not reveal the reason for raising $1 billion worth of capital despite having strong liquidity buffers, analysts believe it’s shoring up capital to ward off any possible competition from the entry of Jio Financial Services.
Bajaj Finance recently announced the acquisition of up to 26% stake in Pennant Technologies Pvt Ltd, a company that provides business-driven technology services and software products primarily for the banking and financial services industry.
