ICICI Bank, the country’s second-largest private sector lender, on Saturday said it has raised Rs 15,000 crore through qualified institutional placement (QIP) after completing the allotment of equity shares under the offering.

The proceeds from the issue will be used to strengthen the capital adequacy ratio of the bank and improve its competitive positioning or general corporate requirements. Investors were allocated 41.89 crore shares at an issue price of Rs 358 per share.

“The issue price represents a 1.9 per cent premium to the floor price determined based on the pricing formula as prescribed under Regulation 176(1) of the Sebi ICDR Regulations and a discount of 1.5 per cent to the closing price of the bank’s equity shares on the BSE/NSE prior to the launch of the issue,” ICICI Bank said in a statement.

Earlier this week, the bank had set a floor price at Rs 351.36 per share for the offering. The issue opened on August 10 and closed on August 14.

Following the allotment of shares, the paid-up equity share capital of the bank has increased to Rs 13,790,821,242 consisting of 6,895,410,621 equity shares of face value Rs 2 each from Rs 12,952,832,416 consisting of 6,476,416,208 equity shares of face value Rs 2 each, ICICI Bank said.

During the share sale, the Monetary Authority of Singapore picked up 4.6 crore shares, representing 11.06 per cent of the QIP size. Other prominent investors included Morgan Stanley Global Opportunity Fund and Societe Generale-ODI, picking up 7.31 per cent and 5.55 per cent, respectively.

The equity issuance also witnessed healthy participation from global and domestic investors, including foreign portfolio investors, domestic mutual funds and insurance companies, the lender said.

With the latest fund raise, ICICI Bank has joined a group of lenders, including the nation’s largest housing finance company HDFC, which raised more than Rs 14,000 crore last week. Others like Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank have also raised capital as the system braces for a loan impairment impact because of the Covid-19 crisis.

It is feared that the banking system could see a rise in bad loans during the second half of this fiscal as the relaxations given by the Reserve Bank of India come to an end.

The central bank has also been asking lenders to beef up their capital in advance, expecting a rise in NPAs.

ICICI Bank said that it is well-positioned to serve the market and benefit from the opportunities that would arise going forward. In these extraordinary times of the coronavirus pandemic, the bank will continue to strive to serve its customers and also emerge stronger as an institution, it added.