Aadhar Housing Finance, which is backed by private equity giant Blackstone, announced that it has set a price band of Rs 300 to Rs 315 per share for its Rs 30-billion initial public offering (IPO). The company revealed that the public subscription for the IPO will be open from May 8 to May 10, with the bidding for anchor investors opening for a day on May 7. This IPO will be the third maiden public offering to open next week, following TBO Tek and Indegene. Aadhar Housing Finance’s IPO consists of a fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 10 billion and an offer for sale (OFS) of Rs 20 billion by its promoter, BCP Topco VII, an affiliate of Blackstone Group Inc. Currently, BCP Topco holds a 98.72 per cent stake in Aadhar Housing Finance, while ICICI Bank owns 1.18 per cent. The company plans to allocate Rs 7.50 billion from the fresh issue proceeds to meet its future capital needs for onward lending, with the remaining portion earmarked for general corporate purposes. Amit Dixit, Head of Private Equity Asia at Blackstone, remarked that the listing marks a significant milestone for Aadhar Housing Finance, highlighting the company’s transformation as a prime example of Blackstone’s expertise in building businesses that contribute to India's growth. He explained that they applied their scale, network, and best global practices to drive business growth and empowered the company to digitize its processes from origination to collection. The IPO’s issue size includes a 50 per cent allocation for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), 35 per cent for retail investors, and the remaining 15 per cent for non-institutional investors. Earlier this month, Aadhar Housing Finance received approval from Sebi to proceed with the IPO. Aadhar Housing Finance offers a wide range of mortgage-related loan products, including loans for residential property purchase and construction, home improvement and extension loans, and loans for commercial property construction and acquisition. The company, which focuses on the low-income housing segment, serves economically weaker and low-to-middle-income customers needing small-ticket mortgage loans. As of September 30, 2023, it operates a network of 471 branches, including 91 sales offices. The company benefits from the resources, relationships, and expertise of Blackstone, one of the world’s leading investment firms. The book-running lead managers for the issue are ICICI Securities, Citigroup Global Markets India, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India), and SBI Capital Markets.