IndusInd Bank, the 5th largest private sector lender, on Tuesday (28th July), said that a fund-raising plan of Rs 3288 crores through a preferential issue has been approved by its board.

The bank will be allotting 6.275 crore equity shares at a price of Rs 524 per share to a set of marquee investors and promoters, subject to shareholders and other approvals needed. 

Sumant Kathpalia, Managing Director and Chief Executive of IndusInd Bank said that this is the bank is raising capital for the first time in over 4 years. He also clarified that the fund-raising has nothing to do with the pandemic.

An extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders will be held by the Bank on 25th August, as said the bank in a regulatory filing.

The promoters will be contributing Rs 792 crore of the total planned fund-raising. IndusInd International Holdings will subscribe to 94,13,661 shares for Rs 493 crore. Hinduja Capital will take up 57,03,816 crore shares for Rs 299 crore at Rs 524 a share.

Route One Fund (Rs 375 crore), Route One Offshore Master Fund (Rs 560 crore), ICICI Prudential Life (Rs 850 crore), Tata Investment Corporation (Rs 300 crore) and AIA Company (Rs 410 crore) are the other investors. These investments aggregate the issuance of over 4.76 crore equity shares on a preferential basis at Rs 524 per share for Rs 2496 crore. 

The preferential allotment has been described as an expression of confidence in the lender by the promoters and investors. Kathpalia stated that the bank is well-capitalized with a CRAR of 15.3% as od June 2020, which will see an increase up to 16.5% after the fund-raising. The total capital adequacy ratio (CAR) under the Basel III was 14.90 percent in June 2019.

Tier 1 of the CAR of 15.3% is 14.49% as against 14.47% in June 2019. Risk-weighted assets are at Rs 2,61,722 crore in June 2020 as compared to Rs 2,31,094 crore in June 2019.

The capital will be used for continuous investments in liabilities and asset franchise, technology, and infrastructure platforms with the purpose of expanding reach, product offerings, and improving customer experience while maintaining sustainable financial parameters.

Kathpalia thanked the bank’s existing shareholders for their trust and support and welcomes the new shareholders. He called the capital raise from foreign and domestic shareholders as strategic for the company as this will help them strengthen their balance-sheet and position the bank after the economy navigates out of the pandemic.

He further said that the capital raised is a reflection of the continuous support and confidence of the promoters in the bank.

Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Global Markets India are the financial advisors, and S&R Associates are the legal counsel of the bank for the issue.

The IndusInd counter gained over 4 percent to Rs 526.90 on the BSE, whose benchmark rallied 1.5 percent.