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ICICI's ADR priced at $9.80

The ICICI's $ 315 million American Depository Receipts issue has been priced at $ 9.80 per ADR on the New York Stock Exchange, representing five common shares of the company at Rs 85.75 per share.

The pricing represents a 10.3 per cent premium to the 5-day average price of the share on both the domestic and international exchanges, after adjusting for the fact that the ADR-holders will receive dividend only for the half year.

Hemendra Kothari, chairman, DSP Merrill Lynch, lead manager to the offering, said that the overwhelming response to the ICICI offering was an indication of the healthy appetite international investors have for quality Indian paper.

This landmark deal should hopefully pave the way for other Indian corporates to take their rightful place in the biggest capital market of the world, Kothari added.

Having completed a full audit of its accounts in accordance with the US GAAP in record time, ICICI launched its international roadshows in Singapore on September 14.

Using three teams of senior management, ICICI spanned the entire globe in only a week and received orders for its ADRs totalling over $ 1.6 billion (over Rs 70 billion) against an issue size of only $ 275 million (Rs 12 billion), representing an unprecedented subscription of almost six times.

Trading commenced in the ADRs at 9.30 AM Eastern Standard Time. K V Kamath, managing director and chief executive officer, ICICI, became the first CEO of an Indian company to ring the NYSE trading bell in more than two centuries that the exchange has been in existence.

The NYSE is the largest market for listed equities in the world and a listing on the exchange signals the arrival of ICICI in the league of global banks. After the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, ICICI became the second Asian bank and one of a handful of non-US banks to list on the NYSE with a full scope US GAAP audit, an official from ICICI said.

Sources said the underlying strength of the demand and the quality of the orders received were such that ICICI was able to price the issue at a premium even to the 5-day average GDR bid-price on the London Stock Exchange.

The issue saw strong demand, coming from all over the world with US-based investors comprising the largest bloc. Reflecting the strong underlying positive sentiment towards India and ICICI, US-based retail investors put in over $ 300 million (Rs 13 billion) worth of orders, providing orders well in excess of the total issue size.

ICICI allocated the orders with a great deal of care in order to ensure that the maximum allocations were provided to the highest quality investors.

UNI

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