IRFC garners over Rs 1,398 cr from anchor investors ahead of IPO

A total of 5,34,563,007 equity shares have been allocated to 31 anchor investors at an upper price band of Rs 26 per equity shares, the company said in a statement. 

At this price, IRFC has garnered Rs 1,398.63 crore from anchor investors. 

The anchor investors include HDFC Trustee Company Ltd, Nippon Life India Trustee Ltd, Government of Singapore, Monetary Authority of Singapore, Kuwait Investment Authority Fund, Kotak Mahindra (International) Ltd, Goldman Sachs (Singapore) PTE, Tata AIG General Insurance Co Ltd and Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance Co Ltd. 

The issue is of up to 178.20 crore shares, comprising a fresh issue of up to 118.80 crore shares and offer for sale of up to 59.40 crore shares by the government. 

The company''s principal business is to borrow funds from the financial markets to finance acquisition/ creation of assets which are then leased out to the Indian Railways. 

The initial public offer (IPO) would open on on January 18 and close on January 20. The price band of the issue has been fixed at Rs 25 to Rs 26 per equity share. 

At the upper end of the price band, the IPO is expected to fetch Rs 4,633 crore. 

IRFC, set up in 1986, is a dedicated financing arm of the Indian Railways for mobilising funds from domestic as well as overseas markets. Its primary objective is to meet the predominant portion of ''extra budgetary resources'' requirement of the Indian Railways through market borrowings at the most competitive rates and terms. 

The Union Cabinet had in April 2017 approved listing of five railway companies. Four of them -- IRCON International Ltd, RITES Ltd, Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp -- have been listed.