HUDCO shares crack 9% as govt launches OFS to sell up to 7% stake; floor price fixed at Rs 79 apiece

HUDCO OFS opens today: Shares of Housing & Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) slipped as much as 9 per cent to Rs 81.80 apiece on the BSE in the opening deals on Wednesday, October 18, a day after the government announced that it would sell up to a 7 per cent stake in the company at a floor price of Rs 79 per share. The offer for sale (OFS) for over 14.01 crore shares or a 7 per cent stake opens today. 

Retail investors can place bids for HUDCO shares on Thursday. At Rs 79 apiece, the 7 per cent share sale in HUDCO would fetch about Rs 1,000 crore to the exchequer.

"Offer for Sale in HUDCO opens tomorrow for non-retail investors. Retail investors can bid on Thursday. The government will divest 7 per cent equity, including a Green Shoe Option of 3.5 per cent," Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said in a post on social media platform X.

The floor price of Rs 79 per scrip is at a discount of 12 per cent over Tuesday's closing share price of HUDCO. Shares of HUDCO closed at Rs 89.92, up 0.36 per cent on BSE.

As of the September quarter, the government holds an 81.81 per cent stake in the company, shareholding pattern data shows.

About HUDCO

The company was incorporated as “The Housing and Urban Development Finance Corporation Private Limited” on April 25, 1970, as a private limited company under the Companies Act, 1956, and was granted a certificate of incorporation by the then Registrar of Companies, Delhi. Subsequently, the name of the company was changed to its present name, “Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited,” and a fresh certificate of incorporation dated July 9, 1974, was issued by the then Registrar of Companies, Delhi & Haryana.

"Our company was notified as a public financial institution under Section 4A of the Companies Act, 1956, on December 9, 1996, by the Department of Company Affairs, Ministry of Finance, GoI. Further, the NHB issued a certificate of registration to us on July 31, 2001, permitting us to carry on the business of a housing finance institution," the company's website says.