The Offer for Sale (OFS) by Aditya Birla Sun Life (ABSL) Asset Management Company was fully subscribed on Tuesday. The share sale received bids for 39.5 million shares, surpassing the 33 million shares on offer.
Most bids were placed at Rs 458, higher than the floor price of Rs 450. Shares of ABSL AMC fell by 3.3 per cent to close at Rs 460 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
Through the OFS, the promoters of the asset manager sold an 11.47 per cent stake to comply with the 25 per cent minimum public shareholding norms. The Aditya Birla Group, holding a 50 per cent stake in the AMC, offloaded 5 per cent, while Sun Life, with a 36.48 per cent share, sold a 6.47 per cent stake. Post-OFS, the promoter shareholding will decrease from 86.47 per cent to 75 per cent. Approximately 3.3 million shares reserved for retail investors will be auctioned on Wednesday.
If there is a demand shortfall, the unsubscribed shares will be allocated to non-retail investors. Bank of America India, IIFL Securities, Jefferies, and Spark Institutional are the investment banks handling the share sale. Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, one of the four listed asset management companies, manages assets worth over Rs 3 trillion through mutual funds.
Analyst Clarence Chu of Aequitas Research, who publishes on Smartkarma, commented that ABSL AMC is currently trading at 18 times the financial year 2025 and 16.3 times the financial year 2026 Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratios. “While valuations don’t seem too demanding, the firm is projected to grow its net income in the 5-9 per cent year-on-year range over the next two periods,” he said.
SCI spin-off debuts
Shares of Shipping Corporation of India Land & Assets (SCILAL), the demerged non-core entity of the state-run Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), finished at Rs 44.5 in their trading debut, giving the company a valuation of Rs 2,071 crore. This demerger is part of the government’s strategic disinvestment plan to sell its majority stake in SCI. SCILAL, incorporated in November 2021, will hold SCI’s non-core assets. The demerger scheme, approved in February 2023, became effective on 14 March. SCI shareholders received one share in SCILAL for every share held in SCI.
Airtel arm, 3 others get IPO nod
Four companies, including Bharti Hexacom, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, have received approval from the market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), to launch their Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). In the IPO, government-owned Telecommunications Consultants will sell a 20 per cent stake of its 30 per cent holding. Bharti Airtel owns the remaining 70 per cent in Bharti Hexacom, a communications solutions provider in Rajasthan and the North East telecommunication circles. Solar engineering firm Jyoti Structures, engineering solutions provider Diffusion Engineers, and solar Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) company Rays Power Infra are the other three companies that have received Sebi’s nod for IPO.
Shares of Popular Vehicles drop 6% on debut
Shares of Popular Vehicles and Services, an automobile dealership firm, fell by over 6 per cent during their trading debut on Tuesday, adding to the list of recent IPO flops. The stock ended at Rs 276, down Rs 19, or 6.44 per cent, from its issue price of Rs 295. This marks the fourth consecutive IPO to list at a discount. Market players attribute the selloff in small-cap stocks as a factor weighing on recent listings. Popular Vehicles’ IPO was marginally oversubscribed with a 1.25 times subscription rate.
First Published: Mar 19 2024 | 5:02 PM IST