Coal India $ 3.5 bn IPO fully subscribed

Mumbai/New Delhi: Coal India's Initial Public Offering (IPO) was oversubscribed on Tuesday, the second day of a four-day offering, driven by strong investor demand and lower-than-expected pricing for the country's largest-ever IPO.
The offering, expected to raise as much as $ 3.5 billion, had received bids for more than a billion shares by 1100 GMT, far exceeding the $ 631.6 million shares in the IPO.
The offer was 1.7 times subscribed at 1100 GMT. Most of the bids were at the top end of the range, exchange data showed.

"The response so far appears to be good, considering that there are still two more days for them (investors) to come in," Chairman Partha Bhattacharyya said.
If priced at the top of its 225 to 245 rupee price range, Coal India would have a market value of $ 35 billion, ranking it seventh among India's listed firms.
It would surpass billionaire Anil Ambani's Reliance Power listing in 2008 as India's largest new issue.
Institutional buyers, which account for half the offer size, had bid for more than 1.5 times the shares on offer by Tuesday afternoon. Most of these bids had come from overseas investors.
Coal India's IPO closes on Wednesday for institutions and on Thursday for retail investors.
"We are seeing very good retail participation for Coal India," said Deven Choksey, managing director and CEO of wealth manager KR Choksey. Choksey is advising his clients to subscribe to the issue, based on the company's growth potential."
Large IPOs in India typically see the heaviest subscription towards the close of the.

Sourec: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/coal-india--35-bn-ipo-fully-subscribed/133342-7.html