Rs 6.50/Share Dividend: Midcap Company Bharat Forge Raises Rs 1,650 Crore Via QIP; Shares In Focus

Bharat Forge, a leading engineering and forging company, saw its shares rise by as much as 2% in early trading on Tuesday following the successful completion of its Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP). Through this initiative, the company raised Rs 1,650 crore on December 9.

QIP Details

In an exchange filing on Monday, Bharat Forge announced the approval and allotment of 1.25 crore equity shares to 95 eligible institutional buyers. The issue price for the QIP was set at Rs 1,320 per share, aligning closely with the floor price. Major participants in this funding round included leading domestic mutual funds such as ICICI Prudential, HDFC Mutual Fund, and Aditya Birla Sun Life.

Following the allotment, Bharat Forge's total paid-up equity share capital now stands at Rs 95.61 crore, comprising 47.88 crore equity shares of Rs 2 face value each.

Utilisation of Funds

Bharat Forge CMD Baba Kalyani, in a CNBC-TV18 interview, shared insights into the allocation of the QIP proceeds. A significant portion will be directed toward expanding the company's capacity to cater to growing market demand. Additionally, Bharat Forge is actively pursuing mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as part of its growth strategy.

"We are focusing on domestic companies first because we see much higher growth opportunities in the Indian markets. No other market is growing at the pace India is. The growth is here, and the opportunity is here," Kalyani told CNBC-TV18. The remaining funds will be used to pare down the company's global debt.

Despite the initial uptick in Bharat Forge's share price, which reached an intraday high in early trading, the stock faced volatility later in the day. As of 1:15 pm on Tuesday, the shares were trading at Rs 1,357.20 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), down by 0.50%.

Over the past year, Bharat Forge has delivered strong returns of nearly 15%. In 2024 alone, the stock has gained approximately 9%.