The ₹311-crore initial public offering of BLS E-Services will open today for public subscription. The issue will close on Thursday (February 1). The issue comes with a price band of ₹129-135 and the market lot is 108 shares.
The entire offer is a fresh issue of 2.3 crore shares. Of this, 10 per cent or 23 lakh shares has been reserved for existing shareholders of BLS International.
Up to 75 per cent of the net issue is reserved for qualified institutional investors, 15 per cent for non-institutional investors and the remaining 10 per cent is kept for retail investors.
The eligible shareholders will get a discount of ₹7 to the final issue price.
As part of IPO excercise, BLS E-Services has raised ₹126 crore from anchor investors by alloting 93.27 lakh shares to 10 funds at ₹135 apiece. Marquee investors included Sixteenth Street Asian Gems Fund, Saint Capital Fund, Silver Stride India Global Fund, Aries Opportunities Fund and Aidos India Fund.
The company proposes to utilise net proceeds from the fresh issue to strengthen its technology infrastructure to develop new capabilities and consolidate its existing platforms, among others. The money will also be used to fund initiatives for organic growth by setting up of BLS Stores, achieve inorganic growth through acquisitions and and for general corporate purposes.
BLS E-Services is a technology enabled digital service provider, providing Business Correspondents services to major banks in India, Assisted E-services; and E-Governance Services at grass root levels in India.
Through their network, the company provides access points for delivery of essential public utility services, social welfare schemes, healthcare, financial, educational, agricultural and banking services for governments (G2C) and businesses (B2B) alike in addition to a host of B2C services to citizens in urban, semi-urban, rural and remote areas.