REC IPO subscribed 1.62 times within one hr

The initial public offer of Rural Electrification Corporation, a state-run power sector lender, got subscribed 1.62 times of the issue size within one hour of the start of book building process on Tuesday.

According to the latest data available on the Bombay Stock Exchange, the IPO received bids for over 25.27 crore shares at 1100 hrs, as against 15.61 crore shares on offer.

REC is looking to raise about Rs 1,640 crore through sale of equity shares in a price band of Rs 90-105.

According to investment bankers associated with the offer, the issue saw robust demand right from the beginning this morning and was fully subscribed within 27 minutes.

The book building process is scheduled to close on February 22. The issue constitutes about 18.18 per cent of the fully diluted post-issue capital of REC.

The mini-ratna company also aims to increase the annual disbursement to Rs 1,00,000-1,20,000 crore over the next five years to garner 20 per cent market share in power sector financing, whose size has been pegged at Rs 6,00,000 crore in the 11th plan period.

The company is the third power PSU to bring out an IPO after PFC and PGCIL, which got listed last year.