ESAF Small Finance Bank IPO makes a strong D-st debut; lists at 20% premium at Rs 71.90

Shares of ESAF Small Finance Bank made a strong debut at Dalal Street on Friday as the stock was listed at Rs 71.90 on the BSE, a premium of 19 per cent over its issue price of Rs 60 apiece. The private lender was listed at a premium of 18 per cent to Rs 71 on National Stock Exchange (NSE).

However, the listing of ESAF has been in line with the expectations. Ahead of listing, ESAF Small Finance Bank was commanding a premium of Rs 16 per share in the grey market, suggesting a listing of 27 per cent to the investors. However, the premium in the unofficial market came down from Rs 21 per share when the issue closed for bidding.

ESAF Small Finance Bank sold its IPO in the range of Rs 57-60 per shares with a lot size of 250 shares, which was open for bidding between November 3-7. The Kerala-based lender raised a total of Rs 463 crore, which included a fresh issue of Rs 390.70 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of up to 6.51 crore shares by ESAF Financial Holdings, PNB MetLife and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance.

The issue saw a strong demand from all categories of investors, fetching an overall subscription of 73.15 times. The dedicated portions for qualified institutional bidders (QIBs), non-institutional investors, retail investors and employees were booked 173.52 times, 84.37 times, 16.97 times and 4.36 times, respectively.

ESAF Small Finance Bank focuses on providing loans to rural and semi-urban customers, providing financial solutions. Its product range includes micro loans, retail loans, MSME loans, loans to financial institutions and agricultural loans. It has a network of 700 outlets, 743 customer service centers and 481 business facilitators, 581 ATM's located across 21 states and UTs of India.
 

ICICI Securities, DAM Capital Advisors and Nuvama Wealth Management were the lead managers to the IPO of ESAF Small Finance Bank, while Link Intime India was appointed as the registrar to the issue. 

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