PNB to raise equity capital from share sale; sets floor price at Rs 35.51

Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Monday said its board has approved raising equity capital from qualified institutional investors to enhance its capital base.

For the Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) purposes, the bank has fixed the floor price at Rs 35.51 per equity share.

The 'Relevant Date' for the purpose of the QIP is May 10, 2021 and accordingly the floor price in respect of the aforesaid QIP, based on the pricing formula as prescribed under SEBI ICDR Regulations is Rs 35.51 per equity share, PNB said in a regulatory filing.

The bank may at its discretion offer a discount of not more than 5 per cent on the floor price.

However, the bank did not disclose how much it intends to mobilise through the QIP.

The bank has a headroom to raise about Rs 3,200 crore from share sale as per the board and shareholders nod of July 9 and August 4, 2020, respectively.

The board had given nod for mobilising Rs 7,000 crore from QIP in one or more than one tranches. Of this, the bank had raised Rs 3,788.04 crore from QIP in December following which the government holding in the bank came down from 85.59 per cent to 76.87 per cent.

PNB further said that a meeting of the Capital Raising Committee is scheduled to be held on Friday, May 14, 2021, to consider and determine the issue price, including a discount, if any, for the shares to be allotted to eligible Qualified Institutional Buyers.

The issue price will be determined by the bank in consultation with the Book Running Lead Managers appointed for the QIP Issue, it said.