HDFC Life OFS subscribed 1.83 times

MUMBAI: The offer for sale in the HDFC Life Insurance Company’s shares was subscribed 1.83 times on day one when non-retail investors put in their bids. Standard Life, a promoter of the firm, took the OFS route to pare its stake as per the regulatory norm. Institutional bids for 16.4 crore shares were received as against the 8.95 crore shares on offer, data on the NSE website showed. OFS for retail investors will be open on Wednesday.

HDFC Life clarified that the offer for sale was disclosed by Standard Life to the bourses and not a regulatory filing by HDFC Life. “We have noted the disclosure published by Standard Life Aberdeen about their intent to sell 4.93 per cent of the total shares outstanding as on date through Offer for Sale mechanism.

In our opinion, a sell down of 4.93 per cent would help the company increase it’s public float to 24.2 per cent, which is a step closer to it achieving Minimum Public Shareholding prescribed by SEBI,” an HDFC Life spokesperson said.