SBI Cards IPO subscribed 18% till mid-day on Day 1

New Delhi: SBI Cards IPO subscribed 18 percent so far on day one and its bidding will close on March 5.

SBI Cards and Payment Services` initial public offering or IPO opened for subscription on Monday and till 1.45 p.m., it was last subscribed 18.38 percent on the first day of the issue, as per the NSE data.

The company has already raised Rs 2,769 crore from 74 anchor investors, including 12 mutual funds.

The IPO received 1.84 crore bids by 1.45 p.m. compared with the issue size of 10.03 crore, data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.

SBI Cards and Payment Services - the credit card arm of the country`s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) - aims to raise around Rs 10,350 crore through the IPO, including new shares worth Rs 500 crore and an offer for sale of 13.05 crore shares.

SBI Cards is the second-largest credit card issuer in the country with a market share of 18 percent. SBI Cards and Payment Services has fixed a price band of Rs 750-755 per equity share for bidding under the IPO.

The biggest strength of the company is the SBI`s parentage, whose brand is highly trusted. The credit card-to-debit card ratio for SBI Card stands at 3.7 percent for SBI Card compared with 45 percent of HDFC Bank, 28 percent for Axis Bank and 18 percent for ICICI Bank, which suggests scope for SBI Card mining SBI customers.