Bajaj Housing Finance picks five investment banks as advisors for proposed IPO: Report

Bajaj Housing Finance has picked five investment banks as advisors for its proposed initial public offering (IPO), according to a Moneycontrol report.

“Kotak Mahindra Capital, Axis Capital, BofA Securities, JM Financial, and SBI Capital have been shortlisted for this IPO,” the report said, quoting a person aware of the development.

The deal has been “kicked off” and work has commenced on the issue, the person added. However, it wasn’t immediately clear if more banks would be added at a later stage.

Bajaj Housing Finance IPO

The development comes days after it was first reported, by Moneycontrol on March 27, that the home financier was planning to launch an IPO within the next 12-18 months. The move would also mark return to the public market of the umbrella Bajaj Group.

“The firm’s targeted valuation is between $9 billion and $10 billion. While these are early days, the firm is planning to raise $900 million to a billion dollars, keeping the minimum dilution and expected valuation range in mind,” the report had said.

The planned IPO is in line with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) compulsory requirement for “upper layer” NBFCs (non-banking financial companies) to get listed on the stock exchanges within three years of being notified as an NBFC.

Bajaj Housing Finance was declared as an “upper layer” NBFC by the RBI on September 30, 2022. Therefore, the former is mandated to be listed on or before September 30,2025, as per the regulatory framework.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was informed by Bajaj Finance regarding actions being taken by the latter’s subsidiary to fulfill the compulsory regulatory requirements.

“The Board of Directors will convene on April 24 to discuss strategies to comply with the mandatory listing requirement. The board will discuss various options, taking into consideration the prevailing market conditions,” Bajaj Finance told BSE.