Gail issue sold 8 times

Gail India's public offer, which closed today, was subscribed more than eight times.

According to merchant banking sources, the issue receive bids for more than 676 million shares, against the issue size of 84.5 million shares.

More than 300,000 applications were received from retail investors, the sources added. Most of the bids today were at Rs 195, compared with the floor price of Rs 185.

According to information available on the website of the National Stock Exchange at 9 pm, the issue drew some odd bids, the highest being at Rs 600 per share.

"We are delighted by the response to the issue," said S Mukherji, managing director and chief executive officer of ICICI Securities, the lead book-running manager for the issue.

As per the latest data posted on the NSE website, foreign institutional investors had applied for 232.4 million shares, while mutual funds and individual investors had applied for 38 million shares and 74 million shares, respectively.

Meanwhile, the Gail scrip gained 3.30 per cent to close at Rs 214.40. More than 3.1 million shares changed hands on the Bombay Stock Exchange.