Repco Home Finance declines 4% on debut

The finance company had raised Rs 270 cr from an IPO between March 13 and March 15. The IPO was subscribed 1.6 times

Chennai-headquartered Repco Home Finance on Monday had a weak stock market debut ,with the stock closing at a little over four per cent lower on the bourses.

The shares closed at Rs 164.7, down Rs 7.30 or 4.2 per cent, compared to its issue price of Rs 172 a share. During intra-day trading, it had fallen as much as eight per cent, to Rs 158.

The finance company had raised Rs 270 crore from an initial public offering (IPO) between March 13 and March 15, subscribed 1.6 times.

The money raised was to be put to use in increasing its capital base. The increased net worth would enable it to meet future capital adequacy requirements, according to the issue document.

Goldman Sachs India Fund, Nomura India Investment Fund Mother Fund and Citigroup Global Markets Mauritius were among the 12 anchor investors in Repco Home Finance. The dozen investors took Rs 40 crore worth of shares at Rs 172 each. SBI Capital Markets, IDFC Capital and JM Financial Institutional Securities were the merchant bankers (intermediaries involved in helping the company raise money from the public) to the issue.

The company had a loan portfolio of Rs 2,802 crore as of March 2012, according to issue documents. Private equity entity Carlyle held 23.75 per cent stake at the time of filing the issue documents.

The company had 73 branches and 19 satellite centres in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal, Gujarat and Puducherry.

The Repatriates Co-operative Finance and Development Bank, owned by the Government of India, promoted the housing finance company in 2000, said the issue document.