Shares of Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) listed at Rs 24.90 apiece on the NSE, an over 4 percent discount over the issue price of Rs 26 per share. The stock settled at Rs 24.80.

Share Market Live

NSE

IRFC is the first government-owned or public sector non-banking financial company (NBFC) to go public. Its Rs 4,600-crore IPO opened for subscription on January 18 and closed on January 20.

The issue was subscribed 3.5 times with the retail individual investor's segment 3.66 times while Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) category 3.78 times and non-institutional investors 2.67 times. The offer received bids for 4,35,22,57,225 shares against 1,24,75,05,993 shares on offer.

After the IPO, the shareholding of the government will come down to 86.4 percent, from 100 percent earlier.

The price range for the offer was fixed at Rs 25-26 per share. Ahead of the IPO, IRFC had raised about Rs 1,400 crore from anchor investors.

IRFC is a dedicated financing arm of the Indian Railways for mobilising funds from domestic as well as overseas markets.

Most brokerages had advised subscribing to the issue keeping in mind the relatively low-risk business model, strategic role in financing growth of Indian Railways and long-term prospects considering electrification and network expansion. They also said that the IPO is attractively priced and can be a good bet for conservative long-term investors as the company is seen reporting consistent growth numbers in the past.

(Edited by : Pranati Deva)

First Published:Jan 29, 2021 10:01 AM IST