Investors bid for as many as 72 times the number of shares that Reliance Power offered for subscription under its initial public offering (IPO). They have put in bids for over 1,654.8 crore shares as against the 22.8 crore shares on offer.

The figures are based on the latest data available but merchant banking sources associated with the offer said that the final tally and the investor composition will be known later in the night.

The issue has already pulled in roughly Rs 60,000 crore by way of application money based on the data available as of yesterday – the exact amount depends on the investor composition.

The IPO received maximum response on the last day compared to the first three days, with the subscription count racing from 24 times as late as 9 p.m. on day three to over 72 times by 6 p.m. today.

On the evidence so far, it is clear that there has been surge in investor response on the last day compared to the earlier three days.

In terms of number of applications Reliance Power IPO has set a new record. It received ever nearly 31 lakh applications by the end of day three, the highest ever, according sources in the merchant banking industry handling the IPO.

By the end of day three the retail portion of the shares on offer received 9.02 times bidding while the qualified institutional buyers’ portion was subscribed 30.68 times. The non-institutional investors’ (corporate and high net worth individuals) portion was subscribed 32.40 times, as per composite BSE and NSE data compiled till late night yesterday.

How it compares

Among mega issues the Reliance Power IPO has thus set a new benchmark in fund mobilisation. The DLF IPO, which raised Rs 9,188 crore in 2007, received subscriptions only about three times the 17.5 crore shares on offer and the retail portion of the issue barely managed to get full subscription.

Cairn India, which raised Rs 5,260 crore through the IPO in 2006 by offering 32.88 crore shares, again barely managed to get subscribed by 1.3 times under volatile market conditions.

Reliance Petroleum IPO received a similar response with the Rs 2,700-crore issue getting subscribed 52 times for the 45 crore shares on offer and received a commitment of Rs 1,45,080 crore.

Reliance Power is planning to raise Rs 11,700 crore for a number of power generation projects that it plans to execute.