Bajaj Housing Finance Board Approves IPO

The board of Bajaj Housing Finance has approved an initial public offering, according to an exchange filing on Thursday.

The IPO that has been approved includes fresh issue of equity shares and an offer for sale, the statement said.

The IPO has been approved with an offering of equity shares of Rs 10 each, aggregating up to Rs 4,000 crore. The OFS, however, is subject to market conditions and other regulatory approvals.

The development comes in response to a mandatory listing requirement on or before Sept. 30, 2025, according to the company's statement. This is to be in compliance with Reserve Bank of India's scale-based regulations for non-banking financial companies.

As per these rules, upper layer NBFCs have to list on the bourses within three years of being notified. Of the 16 upper-layer NBFCs announced in September 2022 by RBI, Bajaj Housing Finance was one of them and hence, needed to be listed by 2025.

NDTV Profit previously reported that Bajaj Housing Finance was expecting a valuation of around $10 billion. The tentative size of the IPO is expected to be around $1 billion.

Accordingly, the company was planning to file a draft prospectus for the IPO in June. It would then start marketing activities and roadshow preparation in August.

In Bajaj Finance's Q4 FY24 investor presentation, it said that the board of directors of Bajaj Housing Finance was evaluating various options for meeting mandatory listing conditions. The housing finance company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bajaj Finance.

In Q4, Bajaj Housing Finance reported a PAT of Rs 381 crore, up 26% year-on-year. Its net interest income, or core income, grew 11% on a yearly basis to Rs 629 crore.

The company's assets under management increased 32% year-on-year to Rs 91,370 crore. Net total income rose 14% year-on-year to Rs 717 crore.

Its overall approvals increased 19% year-on-year to Rs 19,417 crore, and disbursements grew 26% year-on-year to Rs 11,393 crore.