Driven by a robust demand from retail investors, the initial public offer (IPO) of Niva Bupa Healthcare sailed through on Monday, the last day of the bidding process, being subscribed by 1.28 times or 128% so far.Around 11:15 am, the retail participants had bid for 5,79,52,000 shares from the 3,14,28,571 reserved for them, subscribing to the issue by 1.85 times. This was followed by the qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), who had subscribed to the issue by 1.05 times.Meanwhile, non-institutional investors (NIIs) subscribed to the issue by 46%.The issue, which is a fresh equity sale of Rs 800 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of Rs 1.89 crore shares, will be available for bidding till November 11.Under the OFS, Bupa Singapore Holdings and Fettle Tone will offload their part stakes.The company proposes to utilise the net proceeds from the fresh issue towards augmentation of its capital base to strengthen solvency levels and for general corporate purposes.Niva Bupa Healthcare IPO price bandThe company has fixed a price band of Rs 70-74 apiece, where investors can bid for 200 shares in one lot.Niva Bupa Healthcare IPO GMPAhead of the issue opening, the company's shares were trading with a GMP of Rs 0 in the unlisted market.Niva Bupa Healthcare IPO reviewAnalysts advised investors to subscribe to the IPO from a long-term perspective even though it is priced on the aggressive side."Niva Bupa is a leading player in India’s health insurance market. It is among the fastest-growing companies in the sector. Posted a positive turnaround in FY23, though recent earnings in the first quarter of the current fiscal are in the negative. Recommend only for high-risk investors considering an application," said Swastika Investmart."At the upper price band, the company is valued at P/BV of 6.1X with a market cap of Rs 13520 crore post issue of equity shares. We believe that the issue is fully priced and recommend Subscribe – Long Term rating to the IPO," Anand Rathi said.Other detailsNiva Bupa is the second standalone health insurer (SAHI) to eye at the Indian bourses through IPO, after Star Health & Allied Insurance Company.It is India’s third largest and second fastest growing SAHI based on an overall Health GDPI of Rs 5,494 crore in fiscal 2024, which grew at a CAGR of 41.37% from FY 2022 to 2024. It boasts a Gross Direct Written Premium (GDPI) of Rs 5,499.43 crore in fiscal 2024.The company uses machine learning based algorithms and logistics regression models to identify fraudulent claims, and this has helped them drive higher success on fraud detection, and reduce investigation referrals, thereby minimizing impact on the customer experienceFrom FY22 to FY24, Niva Bupa's overall GWP increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 41.27%, while its retail health GWP grew at a CAGR of 33.41%.The company's overall health GDPI growth of 41.37% during this period is one of the highest among SAHIs and nearly double the industry's average growth rate of 21.42%.Niva Bupa has 143,074 agents, 210 physical branches across 22 states and 4 union territories in India, as of March 2024. It distributes products through 64 banks and other corporate agents, including major institutions like HDFC Bank and Axis Bank, according to the Redseer Report.ICICI Securities, Morgan Stanley India, Kotak Mahindra Capital, Axis Capital, HDFC Bank and Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors are the book-running lead managers and KFin Technologies is the registrar of the offer.(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)