Utkarsh Small Finance Bank has re-filed preliminary papers with capital market regulator SEBI and reduced its initial public offer (IPO) size to Rs 500 crore from Rs 1,350 crore planned earlier. 

The company filed the paper afresh as the regulator’s one-year approval given to the Varanasi-headquartered small finance bank (SFB) to launch IPO expired last month. 

Under the SEBI’s regulations, a company gets one year to hit the primary market after receiving approval from the market regulator. In case a firm fails to do so during this period, it has to re-file the prospectus with the SEBI, seeking fresh clearance. 

According to a fresh Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) filed on Friday, the SFB’s Rs 500-crore IPO is a complete fresh issue of shares, and the entire proceeds will go to the bank. 

The lender may consider the issue of securities aggregating up to Rs 100 crore in a pre-IPO placement round. If such placement is undertaken, the fresh issue size will be reduced. 

Proceeds from the fresh issue will be utilised to augment the lender’s tier-1 capital base to meet future capital requirements. 

Incorporated in 2016, Utkarsh commenced operations in 2017, and its product suite includes a range of products, including saving accounts, salary accounts, current accounts, recurring and fixed deposits and locker facilities. 

As of March 31, 2022, its operations are spread across 22 states and Union Territories with 686 banking outlets and 12,617 employees, serving 3.14 million customers majorly located in rural and semi-urban areas, primarily in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. a