India's SBI Cards to Start Testing Market Appetite for IPO Next Week

   By P.R. Venkat 
 

India-based SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd. will start testing investor appetite for its shares in an initial public offering in India starting next week, according to a term sheet seen by The Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

The country's second-largest credit card issuer by market share will start taking orders from anchor investors beginning Feb. 28, and will open orders to retail investors starting March 2, the term sheet showed.

Anchor investors agree to take a portion of the shares offered by a company ahead of an IPO. Having such investors helps a company to market its deal better.

India's largest bank by branch network, State Bank of India, and U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group Inc. are the two shareholders in SBI Cards that plan to divest part of their stakes via the IPO.

SBI Cards is planning to sell 130.53 million shares, or 14% of its share capital, through the offering.

State Bank of India currently owns a 74% stake in SBI Cards, while Carlyle Group holds a 26% stake, a draft IPO prospectus posted on the Securities and Exchange Board of India shows.

Bank of America Securities, HSBC and Nomura are among the banks advising SBI Card on the IPO.

Write to P.R. Venkat at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 20, 2020 02:24 ET (07:24 GMT)

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