Why Bajaj Housing Finance IPO- India’s biggest in 2024- got $39 billion in bids

Bajaj Housing Finance Ltd., which sought to raise 65.6 billion rupees ($781 million) in the nation’s biggest public offering of 2024, attracted bids for about $39 billion on the last day of the sale on Wednesday. That’s more than 1% of the country’s gross domestic product for the fiscal year ended 2024. 

Institutional investors drove the frenzied demand, with bids exceeding 200 times the shares set aside for them. Retail category was over-subscribed seven times. The demand surpassed that of Tata Technologies’ blockbuster IPO last year.

India has been bustling with debuts, with $7.75 billion raised in listings so far this year. That exceeds the proceeds in each of the past two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Investors have been chasing the first day gain, which has averaged about 30% this year. 

Bigger sales are on the horizon — Hyundai Motor Co. will likely raise as much as $3.5 billion from the listing of its Indian unit in the coming months, Bloomberg News reported in July.

Bajaj Housing company aims to raise as much as 35.6 billion rupees via new shares, while founder Bajaj Finance offered up to 30 billion rupees of shares in the sale. On Sept. 6, anchor investors, including Government of Singapore, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan India subscribed to 251.14 million shares worth 17.6 billion rupees at 70 rupees each.