Bharti Ipo May See 2 Times Oversubscription

The initial public offer (IPO) of Bharti Tele-Ventures likely to be over subscribed by over two times when it closes on February 2, 2002. The 100 per cent book-building IPO has already received bids for 27.37 crore shares, which is 47.7 per cent higher than the offer of 18.53 crore shares.

The subscribers have an over lapping price bid between Rs 45 and Rs 50. The IPO has demand for 21.80 crore shares at Rs 46 a share. The demand for 14.60 crore shares have been at a price of Rs 47. At Rs 48, about 7.62 crore shares, at Rs 49 the offer is for 3.32 crore shares and at Rs 50, the offer is for 3.21 crore shares. Going by the current distribution of the offer, analysts expect that the discovery price for the Bharti Tele-Ventures would be around Rs 47-48.

On the first day of IPO, the company got the offer for 10.90 crore shares. The second day saw the subscription aggregated at 18.55 crore shares and on third day it was 24.55 crore shares.

Today, the issue got subscription for 27.37 crore shares. Going by the tendency of retail investors putting the application for last two to three days, the issue is likely to get oversubscription of 2/3 times, analysts says.

25 FIIs evince interest

Around 25 foreign institutional investors (FIIs) are believed to have submitted bids for picking up a stake in Bharti Tele-Ventures through its initial public offering (IPO).

Senior investment banking sources close to the IPO process said that they had approached around 65 key foreign institutions across the globe and close to 25 players have submitted bids at different prices. The bids submitted by various investors vary from Rs 45 to 60.

The overwhelming response comes in the wake of a senior team from merchant bankers and Bharti Tele-Ventures conducting roadshows in key markets such as the US, Boston, London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Response from some key FIIs in the US and Europe is still awaited for the IPO that has already been oversubscribed, senior sources said on Thursday.

The company is expecting more bids from retail investors in the next two days. Bharti Tele-Ventures' IPO, which will offer 18.53 crore share via the 100 per cent book building route, will close on February 2.