Hdfc Bank Ads To See Big Subscription

HDFC Bank's $ 175 million American depositary share (ADS) issue is expected to be oversubscribed seven to eight times.

The book will formally close tomorrow and the stock will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. According to merchant banking sources, the ADS is expected to be listed around $9.5-$10.5 range, at a slight premium of the domestic price. Each ADS will represent two underlying domestic shares, The HDFC Bank stock closed at Rs 224.10 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today, down 1.69 per cent.

It will be the second private sector bank to be listed on the NYSE after ICICI Bank, which was listed in March 2000. ICICI Bank's ADS was listed at $11. The issue size of the bank was at $175 million and each ADS represented two equity shares.

HDFC Bank is planning to issue 11 million ADS representing 22 million under lying shares. The bank's paid up equity capital after the issue would go up by Rs 33 crore to Rs 276 crore. The issue has a green shoe option of $25 million.

The top brass of the bank along with HDFC chairman Deepak S Parekh are in New York in the run-up to the listing.

HDFC's holding in the bank, which is pegged at 28.268 per cent, is slated to go down to around 25 per cent. The book-runners to the issue are Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co.