Motilal Oswal Financial Services founders commit 10% stake to philanthropy

Motilal Oswal and Raamdeo Agarawal, founders of Motilal Oswal Financial Services, have announced a generous pledge towards philanthropy, joining the likes of Azim Premji, Nandan Nilekani, Anil Agarwal, and Nikhil Kamath. 

Motilal Oswal Financial Services disclosed in an exchange notification that its founding pair had expressed their intention to donate 5 per cent of their respective shares, cumulatively equating to 14.7 million shares, or 10 per cent of the company's total paid-up share capital. These shares are earmarked for various charitable endeavors. 

As on Friday, the value of the shares pledged by Oswal and Agarawal stands at Rs 1,216 crore.

Speaking over a call, Oswal elaborated on the duo's philanthropic ambitions, citing a desire to accelerate the initiatives pursued by the Motilal Oswal Foundation.

The lion's share of the funds, Oswal clarified, around 90 per cent, will be allocated towards supporting educational institutions.

"Over a ten-year span, we aim to ensure the entire sum is judiciously spent. We will either establish new institutions or provide financial backing to those already operating effectively. Coming from a community that has always valued giving back to society, we have been inculcated since day one with the importance of philanthropy," Oswal shared.

Oswal also attributed his philanthropic inspiration to influential billionaires such as Warren Buffet.

The Motilal Oswal Foundation primarily collaborates with underprivileged children and prides itself on having extended its aid to 37,122 beneficiaries through its various initiatives thus far.

Last month, Nilhil Kamath, co-founder of Zerodha, pledged half of his wealth to philanthropic causes. Other prominent figures in the field include investor and DMart cofounder Radhakishan Damani and India-born investor Mohnish Pabrai, both of whom operate charities. Damani's charity provides affordable accommodation to patient families undergoing treatment in Mumbai, while Pabrai's Dakshana Foundation offers intensive 1-2 year coaching for IIT and medical entrance exams to students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds.

Yatharth IPO subscribed 36x

The intial public offering (IPO) of Yatharth Hospital and Trauma Care Services was subscribed 36.2 times on Friday, the concluding day of the issue. Institutional investors subscribed to the IPO 85 times, wealthy investors by 37 times and retail investors by eight times. The hospitality chain had allotted shares worth Rs. 206 crore to 18 anchor investors earlier this week. BS Reporter

Yatharth had set the price band for the IPO between Rs 285-300 per share. The Rs 686 crore IPO comprised a fresh issue worth Rs 490 crore and an offer for sale worth Rs 196 crore.

The fresh issue portion will be used to retire debt and fund expansion. The hospital chain will be valued at Rs 2,576 crore at the top end. For the year ended March 2023, the company reported net profit of Rs 66 crore on revenues of Rs 520 crore.

The company operates three super speciality hospitals in Delhi NCR, And a fourth one in Orchha, Madhya Pradesh. As of March 31, 2023, the company has  609 doctors across its hospitals. Yayarth began operations in 2008 with a Noida clinic and established its first hospital in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, in November 2010.

Analysts termed the IPO's attractive pricing and growth prospects for the enthusiastic response. 

Govt sells 5.36% stake in RVNL

The government’s offer for sale (OFS) of Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) shares saw good investor interest, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Friday. In the two-day OFS, which closed on Friday, the government sold 11.17 crore shares, representing a 5.36 per cent stake . The floor price was fixed at Rs. 119 apiece.
 

 and the offer included a greenshoe option of an additional 4.08 crore shares or 1.96 per cent stake.
 

"RVNL OFS closed with good interest from investors. With this, RVNL is now MPS compliant," Pandey tweeted.

MPS refers to Minimum Public Shareholding.
 

On Thursday, institutional investors had put in bids worth over Rs 2,000 crore and the portion reserved for them was subscribed 2.73 times.
 

Shares of RVNL declined 4.12 per cent to close at Rs 120.95 apiece on the BSE on Friday.
 

The government's holding in RVNL will come down from 78.20 per cent to 72.84 per cent after completion of share allotment to bidders.
 

RVNL was incorporated in January 2003 as a fully-owned public sector unit of the Ministry of Railways. It has the mandate of raising extra-budgetary resources and implementing projects relating to the creation and augmentation of the capacity of rail infrastructure on a fast track basis.