India's HDFC Bank Ltd. plans to raise up to US$2.5 billion through the sale of equity shares, Mint reported March 5, citing "three people aware of the developments."
The bank is still awaiting regulatory approval and is likely to launch the share sale in mid-March. The share sale will be a mix of domestic qualified institutional placement and overseas fundraising through American depositary receipts, with the majority of the share sale likely to come through the latter, according to one of the sources.
In December 2017, the bank said it planned to raise 240 billion Indian rupees by issuing equity shares, convertible securities and depositary receipts.
Meanwhile, affiliate HDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd. will soon be filing its draft red herring prospectus for its proposed IPO.
Through the offering, the company's major shareholders, Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd., or HDFC, and Standard Life Investments Ltd., will divest part of their respective stakes in the joint venture for a total of US$550 million to US$600 million, one of the people added.
Following the IPO, HDFC's stake in HDFC Asset Management will be at least 50.01%, down from 57.36%, while the Standard Life Aberdeen Plc unit's stake will be reduced to at least 24.99% from 38.24%.
As of March 2, US$1 was equivalent to 65.24 Indian rupees.
