TCS IPO, facts and figures

The Kumbhakaran of the Indian IT industry woke up in 2004, ending speculations about an impending IPO. The IPO put the stock markets in a tizzy and established TCS as a public limited company. I have collected some facts and figures about the IPO.
Need for the IPO

1. To change TCS's image from a division of a private firm to a globally driven, independent organization.
2. To provide Tata Sons with the monetary muscles for new acquisitions.
3. To provide greater agility to TCS in a dynamic market.

Why now
There is no clear cut explanation as to why TCS chose to go public now and not in 2000, when it would have been valued at least three times more than it is valued now. Some people claim disinterest from the senior management. An example would be TCS's ex- CEO FC Kohli saying "If we go public, the employees would be talking only about share values since morning,".Another reason might have been that TCS never felt the need to go public, as it had sufficient cash reserves, and could finance all its acquisitions by itself. A alternate explanation states that TCS being the biggest contributor to the coffers of Tata Sons, was crucial to the acquisitions and new ventures of the holding company.
Financial Highlights
TCS's revenues rose in 2001-2002 by 32.7% and in 2002-2003 by 20.2%. The sales in 2002-2003 were 5007 crores.
IPO Highlights

1. Book building opened on July 29th and closed on August 5th.
2. 5.54 crore equity shares of Re 1 each on offer.
3. 60% reserved for QIB, 25% for retail investors and the rest for non-institutional investors.
4. Price of 850 fixed.
5. IPO oversubscribed 7.7 times.
6. Raised about 5500 crores from the market.