Mumbai: The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) bought 52.6 per cent of the offer for sale (OFS) of Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco).

Following the purchase, the insurer’s stake in Hudco has gone up from 5.22 per cent to 8.90 per cent.

Shares of Hudco ended with losses of 5.82 per cent at Rs 72.87 on the BSE, while LIC settled at Rs 617.50, a drop of Rs 17.50 or 2.76 per cent over its previous finish on the BSE.

The OFS had seen the government selling 14 crore shares representing 7 per cent stake in the company at a floor price of Rs 79 per share which included a greenshoe option of 7 crore shares. Of this, LIC bought nearly 7.4 crore shares.

The float opened for institutional investors on October 18 and retail investors on the following day.

It had received a good interest from institutional investors and their portion was subscribed more than two times.

The Centre subsequently decided to exercise the greenshoe option.

For the quarter ended September 30, 2023, the government held nearly 82 per cent in the company.

Hudco provides long-term finance for construction of houses for residential purposes or finance or undertake housing and urban development programmes in the country.

It also finances the setting up of satellite towns. Our Bureau