Mumbai, July 29: The largest initial public offer ever made in the country roared off the block today with 92 per cent of its shares sold out in the space of hours.

Institutions grabbed their share of 60 per cent in the issue, which is estimated to mop up Rs 5000 crore. Most bids came in the range of Rs 800 to Rs 830 apiece. The price-band has been fixed between Rs 775 and Rs 900.

Around 60 per cent of the book-built offer has been set aside for institutions, 15 per cent for high-networth investors and 25 per cent has been earmarked for retail investors — who are known to make an eleventh-hour dash, after gauging the response from institutions. “We are satisfied with the response on the first day,” an investment banker selling the issue said.

The opening of the offer for 5.54 crore shares coincided with the birth centenary of J.R.D. Tata. The Tatas will sell another 15 per cent under a greenshoe option.

Investment bankers concede TCS shares are being lapped up slower than those of ONGC’s this March — they flew off the shelves in 10 minutes — but they argue that the two offers are not comparable. One is a software major making its first trip to the market; the other is the country’s largest firm already listed on bourses.

The roadshows in Asian financial capitals are over and TCS teams are camping in Europe and the US, a source said. “It is early days yet. Most institutions bidding for the shares today were from Asia, the part of the world where the hard-sell is over,” an investment banker said. Sources also say some local institutions were also believed to have joined the stock scramble.

Retail investors have to buy at least seven shares in TCS, which reported a 71 per cent leap in first-quarter net profit at Rs 519 crore on a 40 per cent increase in sales.

The shares are a combination of a fresh issue and what is described as an “offer-for-sale” by existing shareholders — equal to 13 per cent of the enlarged capital.

Two teams with senior Tata officials and merchant bankers are taking the TCS story overseas. The first touched down in Singapore and Hong Kong, before winging its way to key financial hotspots in western Europe and the US. The campaign will also reach 22 cities in India, in an effort to bring small investors on board.