HDB Financial Services shares and the ₹37,000 crore connection

The final trading session of the week will be the most significant in terms of shareholder lock-in expiries, as HDB Financial Services' six month lock-in period ends on Friday, January 2.

With this, nearly 58% of the company's outstanding equity, or about 481.5 million shares, will become eligible for trading.

At Thursday's current market price, the value of these shares is close to ₹37,000 crore. HDB Financial shares are currently trading above their IPO issue price of ₹740 per share.

The expiry of the lock-in does not imply that all these shares will be sold in the open market, but only that they are now free to be traded.

HDB Financial has also seen initiation of coverage by three global brokerage firms. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage with an 'Equalweight' rating and a price target of ₹780. UBS has assigned a 'Neutral' rating with a price target of ₹790, while Goldman Sachs has also rated the stock 'Neutral' with a price target of ₹808.

Shares of HDB Financial Services were trading 0.19% lower on Thursday at ₹764.10, but remain about 3% above the IPO price.

Alongside HDB Financial, Allied Blenders and Distillers will also see shares becoming eligible for trading on Friday as its one and a half year and longer lock-in period expires. The value of these shares is estimated at nearly ₹3,500 crore.

Allied Blenders and Distillers has been an outperformer since listing, with the stock up nearly 120% from its issue price as of last Friday's close.