SBI gears up for ₹25,000 crore share sale by July; Citi, HSBC among six shortlisted book-runners

State Bank of India (SBI) has lined up six book-runners for its planned ₹25,000-crore (about $3 billion) follow-on public offer—poised to be the nation’s largest equity raising yet, Bloomberg reported.

The chosen syndicate comprises the Indian arms of Citigroup and HSBC together with ICICI Securities, Kotak Investment Banking, Morgan Stanley and SBI Capital Markets.

According to the report, the appointments would be formalised shortly and the share sale would, most probably, take place by the end of July this year.

The planned share sale would be among the biggest equity offerings ever by a state-run Indian lender. Proceeds are earmarked to shore up SBI’s Tier-1 capital, fuel credit expansion, and keep the bank comfortably ahead of tighter regulatory norms. The board is expected to sign off on the issue’s final structure within weeks, paving the way for the launch.

The six banks which have been identified by SBI will work on book building, distribution, pricing, and coordination with various regulatory authorities.

In May, SBI’s board had cleared a plan to raise capital via a qualified institutional placement (QIP). If completed, the issue would set a new record for India’s largest QIP share sale.