HDFC, HDFC Bank combined m-cap topples TCS' on merger announcement

Shares of HDFC and HDFC Bank witnessed heavy buying on Monday and settled with nearly 10 per cent gains as investors lapped up the announcement of their proposed merger.

The scrip of HDFC settled at Rs 2,678.90, registering a jump of 9.30 per cent. It had scaled an intra-day high of Rs 2,855.35 per share, a gain of 16.49 per cent over its previous closing price on BSE.

Mirroring the rally in the stock, market capitalisation of HDFC zoomed to Rs 4,85,691.18 crore.

Similar trends were seen on NSE, where the stock opened at Rs 2,570.50, then touched a high of Rs 2,933.80 and finally ended at Rs 2,676, higher by 9.12 per cent over its previous close.

In the biggest merger in corporate history, India's largest housing finance company HDFC will merge with the country's largest private lender HDFC Bank to create a banking behemoth.

Once the deal is effective, HDFC Bank will be wholly owned by public shareholders, and existing shareholders of HDFC will own 41 per cent of the bank, according to stock exchange filings by the firms.

In tandem, shares of HDFC Bank settled at Rs 1,656.45, up 9.97 per cent over previous close. During intra-day trade, the stock saw a high of Rs 1,721.85.

Accordingly, market capitalisation of HDFC Bank jumped to Rs 9,18,591.13 crore at the end of the trading session on Monday.

On NSE too, the bank's shares were up nearly 10 per cent at Rs 1,654.10 apiece.

The combined market capitalisation of HDFC and HDFC Bank stood at Rs 14,04,282.31 crore, higher than TCS' market capitalisation of Rs 13,79,389.19 crore.

"Nifty bulls seized control of the psychological 18,000-mark as HDFC, HDFC Bank stocks witnessed a spectacular rally and the twin stock also surpassed TCS in terms of market capitalisation," Prashanth Tapse, Vice President (Research) of Mehta Equities, said.

Meanwhile, S&P Global Ratings on Monday said HDFC Bank's planned merger with its parent HDFC will make the bank twice the size of ICICI Bank, while bolstering market share and diversifying revenues.