PNs corner 40 per cent of ICICI bids

Participatory notes (PNs) account for as much as 40 per cent of the bids received under the foreign institutional investors' (FIIs) category in the ICICI Bank's equity offer.

The total demand from FIIs at the end of the penultimate day of the offer was for 374.84 million shares against a total of 98.87 million shares on offer, according to data available on the website of the National Stock Exchange. The total bids received were 5.18 times the aggregate shares on offer.

Government of Singapore's investment arm, Temasek, which already owns 7.3 per cent stake in ICICI Bank, has put in bids worth Rs 4,300 crore. The total amount the bank seeks to raise from the issue is Rs 10,062 crore, including a greenshoe option of Rs 1,312.50 crore.

Around 90 per cent of the bids received are at prices ranging from Rs 900 to Rs 930 a share against the price band of Rs 885 to Rs 950 a share.

Most institutional investors are expected to revise upwards their bids on the closing day tomorrow to Rs 940 to Rs 950 a share, which would enable the bank to price the issue close to the upper end of the band.

Domestic institutional investors have bid for 112.78 million shares, taking the total qualified institutional bids received to 11 times the total shares on offer to these investors. Retail investors have so far bid for only 11 per cent of the shares (or 3.39 million shares) on offer to them.

The bank's $2.5 billion American depository receipts (ADRs) issue has already been subscribed 2.5 times with investors like Capital International, Warburg Pincus and Temasek affiliate Government of Singapore Investment Corporation bidding for ADRs.

GIC has not bid for ICICI Bank's shares in the domestic market. Warburg Pincus has already bid for Rs 5,000 crore.