SBI share sale via QIP opens

State Bank of India's mega share sale through qualified institutional placement (QIP) route, which is aimed at raising up to Rs 9,500 crore, began today.
Though the exchange filing from the state-run bank did not mention the amount it plans to raise, the country's largest lender has a mandate from board and shareholders to raise up to Rs 9,500 crore by issuing shares to qualified institutional investors.
According to preliminary placement document filed with BSE, the opening date of the issue is January 28. It is silent on the closing date.
The floor price has been fixed at Rs 1,629.35 apiece, the filing said.

SBI shares today closed almost flat at Rs 1,595.95 on the BSE.
Shares prices below 37 per cent of their 52-week high.

State Bank of India (SBI) Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya citing poor market conditions had said yesterday that the bank had not decided on the issue timing.
"I cannot, at this point, tell you anything on the QIP. We are on the job. You have seen the market currently, so that is the issue there. We have not taken a call yet," she had said .
The QIP issue is expected to be followed by Rs 2,000-crore fund infusion to the bank from the government.

Post-QIP, for which SBI received shareholder nod a few days ago, government holding in the bank will go down to 58 per cent.
The merchant bankers to the issue are SBI Caps, Citi, Deustche, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, HSBC, JP Morgan and UBS.