Policybazaar IPO Kicks Off, Retail Portion Subscribed 36% In The First Hour

The initial public offering (IPO) of P.B. Fintech, the parent company of Paisabazaar and insurtech unicorn Policybazaar opened today (1st November), and in the first hour of the offer, it witnessed only retail investors pitch in.

As of 11 a.m, the retail individual investors (RII) bid for 21,94,680 shares, as against 60,73,026 shares earmarked for them, thereby subscribing 0.36 times or 36% of the allocated portion.

Overall, 3,45,12,186 are on offer, and bids were placed for 22,26,975 shares in the first hour.

For Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs), a total of 1,93,29,621 shares have been put aside. However, they are yet to place their bids.

Non-institutional investors, which largely include corporates and individuals other than retail investors, have been allocated 91,09,539, and so far, they have subscribed to 32,295 shares.

The IPO, which will end on November 3rd, has opened at a price band of INR 940-980.

On Friday, P.B. Fintech mobilised INR 2,569.37 Cr from 155 anchor investors, including major global investors Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board,  and Goldman Sachs. 

The IPO includes a fresh issue of up to INR 3,750 Cr.

Its OFS includes shares worth up to INR 1,875 Cr from SVF Python II (Cayman) Limited.

Yashish Dahiya, the CEO and cofounder of Policybazaar has put stocks worth INR 30 Cr on the block. The cofounder and CFO of the company, Alok Bansal, will sell stocks worth up to INR 12.75 Cr.

It’s to be noted that the founders have decreased the stocks for the offer for sale. Initially, Dahiya offered to sell equity shares worth INR 250 Cr, while Bansal proposed to sell a stake worth INR 95 Cr. Rajendra Singh Kuhar will offload stocks worth up to INR INR 3.5 Cr, compared to the initial offer of INR 7.5 Cr.

Founded by Yashish Dahiya, Alok Bansal, and Avaneesh Nirjar in 2008, PolicyBazaar aggregates insurance policies from a range of providers for use-cases, including life insurance, automobile insurance, health insurance and more. The Delhi NCR based startup had filed DRHP in August.