StanChart to raise £500m in India listing
Standard Chartered will raise up to $750m (£500m) in an audacious Indian listing.
It plans to issue Indian Depositary Receipts (IDRs) – rupee-denominated certificates showing ownership of shares in Standard Chartered – the first such offering in Asia’s third-largest economy.
It filed a draught prospectus with Indian regulators yesterday and hopes to complete the listing by June.
It is thought the move is a sign to the Indian authorities of the bank’s long term intent, after it reaped more than $1bn profit there last year.
StanChart, which is expanding its presence across Asia, is also listed in Hong Kong. It earned more than three quarters of its $5bn profit in Asia last year.
The amount it raises will depend on market conditions and investor demand, the bank said yesterday.
The bank said it had hired UBS AG , Goldman Sachs, JM Financial Consultants, DSP Merrill Lynch, Kotak Mahindra Capital and SBI Capital Markets to manage the offering. StanChart has appointed its STCI Capital Markets unit as a co-book running lead manager.
Group chief executive Peter Sands, who has been at the helm for over three years, said: “Our intention to be the first company to list IDRs demonstrates how important India is to Standard Chartered. We have a 150-year heritage in India. This is a unique opportunity to raise our profile and allow investors in India to participate in our future.”
The bank reported record profits of $5.15bn this month, following a 13 per cent jump in 2009.
Its investment banking growth in its core Asian markets offset a jump in bad debts in the Middle East.
The bank has fared better than most rivals during the downturn thanks to strong capital and liquidity. It said 2010 had started “very strongly” and was ahead of a year ago.
However, last year the consumer arm was hit by the global economic slowdown.