India's largest public issue from DLF opens

Monday, 11 June 2007, 19:30 IST
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Mumbai: India's largest public issue, the $2.4 billion offer from real estate major DLF, opened Monday and its institutional portion was lapped up within an hour, analysts monitoring the initial public offering (IPO) said. The bankers to the issue said bids had been received for more than 40 percent of the 175 million shares being offered by the group within the first one hour but expected the retail investors to subscribe only towards the issue closure. The group, which led the realty boom in Gurgaon on the outskirts of the national capital and developed a business process outsourcing (BPO) hub there, has offered its shares in a price band of 500-550 ($12.20-$13.40) each. The issue, on 100 percent book building process, closes June 14. "DLF IPO-QIB (qualified institutional buyers) portion is fully subscribed," DLF said in a statement, referring to the 104.4 million shares on offer. The order books for institutional buyers were fully covered even before the issue opened. Headquartered in New Delhi, the DLF group has over 220 million square feet of existing development and some 575 million square feet under planned projects in around 30 cities, according to its officials. The company, promoted by Kushal Pal Singh, has operated under three businesses in the past comprising residential, commercial and retail segments to which it has added three more divisions - hotels, infrastructure and special economic zones. The group had initially intended to go for a public issue in May last year, but was forced to shelve it because of the crash in the stock markets and some spat with the minority shareholders.
Source: IANS