India’s First Infrastructure Trust IPO Gets 8.5 Times Demand

(Bloomberg) -- India's first bond-like securities giving investors exposure to the nation's infrastructure projects received bids for 8.5 times the number of units offered.

IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd., the Mumbai-based road operator, will list the hybrids known as infrastructure investment trusts on May 8. The IRB InvIT Fund's initial public offering was fully subscribed on Friday, the last day of three-day offer, helping it to raise as much as 50.4 billion rupees ($784 million). The IPO received bids for 2.1 billion units versus the 251 million offered, according to cumulative demand data available at 5.30 p.m. on NSE's website. The fund will own and operate six toll road assets across five Indian states.

“The successful listing of this InvIT will pave the way for many similar listings and help the sector discover a new source of capital, other than equity and debt,” Vibhor Singhal, vice president of IT services and infrastructure at Phillip Securities Pte Ltd, wrote in an April 27 report.

The structure of InvITs, designed by market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India, is along the lines of Real Estate Investment Trusts listed across the world. InvITs offer a similar proposition where investors are able to enjoy stable returns from income-generating infrastructure assets such as roads and power transmission lines. For developers, the ability to monetize infrastructure projects more quickly frees up capital for fresh investments.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dhwani Pandya in Mumbai at dpandya11@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pratish Narayanan at pnarayanan9@bloomberg.net, Candice Zachariahs, Ashutosh Joshi