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Sunday, August 09, 2009

NHPC Gets $3.7 Billion of Bids in Initial Share Offer

Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- NHPC Ltd., India’s biggest hydroelectric power generator, received more than 178.2 billion rupees ($3.7 billion) of bids, 3.5 times the stock on offer on the first day of its initial share sale.

The utility, which is offering 1.68 billion shares including 559.1 million government shares, got bids for 5.94 billion shares when bidding closed for the day at 5 p.m. in Mumbai, according to the National Stock Exchange Web site.

Power producers are accelerating share-sale plans as equities rebound from a 2008 slump and are set for their best year in six. Adani Power Ltd., controlled by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, raised 30.2 billion rupees after getting $11.5 billion in bids in a sale ended July 31.

Utilities, including Indiabulls Power Ltd., may sell shares to raise as much as 100 billion rupees in the next three months, according to Angel Broking Ltd. analyst Girish Solanki.

NHPC, based in Faridabad near New Delhi, plans to raise as much as 40 billion rupees, while the federal government expects 20 billion rupees in the initial public offering, Chairman S.K. Garg said July 28. The offer would be India’s biggest since Reliance Power Ltd.’s record share sale in January 2008.

NHPC is offering shares at 30 rupees to 36 rupees apiece and will use part of the funds to build seven hydroelectric projects with a combined capacity of 3,240 megawatts, according to the share sale documents. The issue closes Aug. 12.

The IPO is being managed by SBI Capital Markets Ltd., Kotak Mahindra Capital Co. Ltd. and Enam Securities Pvt.

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