IPO bandwagon getting bigger and bigger; August sees 23 filings so far

The raging IPO frenzy has set a record of sorts this month with the first 20 days of August witnessing as many as 23 filings seeking regulatory permission to launch primary share sales worth around Rs 40,000 crore while eight companies already raising over Rs 18,200 crore in the month.

Several of these companies are from the startup space such as fintech, e-commerce, online travel and SaaS (software-as-a- service) segments.

So far this year, over 40 new listings have raked in around Rs 70,000 crore. The depth of investor interest, especially from the retail, is very visible with many IPOs being oversubscribed over 100 times and many brokerages say total number of issues may well top the 100-mark this year.

The IPO market is so hot that it has caught the attention of the monetary authority which in its latest bulletin says “year 2021 could well turn out to be the year of IPOs for the country”.

Some of the major filings among the total 23 in the month include the Delhi-based PB Fintech, the promoters of insurance distributor Policybazaar, that is seeking Sebi nod for a Rs 6,000-crore issue; and the Pune-based Emcure Pharma that is seeking to raise Rs 5,000 crore.

Besides, Adani Wilmar, the FMCG arm of the Adani Group, is seeking to mop up Rs 4,500 crore, and the Mumbai-based online fashion and apparel brand Nykaa, whose holding firm FSN E-Commerce, has filed for an Rs 4,000 crore issue.

The list also includes the Gurugram-headquartered Le Travenues Technology, the promoters of online travel booking firm Ixigo, which is looking to collect Rs 1,800 crore from an issue; and Rategain Travel Technologies, the first SaaS (software-as-a-service) company to go public in the country with a Rs 1,500 crore issue; and the Noida-based Rategain is the country’s largest SaaS firm in the hospitality and travel space.

Another main issue of Rs 1,500 crore is from the Kolkata-based Tarsons Products that manufactures a range of quality lab-ware products. Tarsons has a diversified product portfolio with over 1,700 stock-keeping units across 300 products and operate five manufacturing facilities in Bengal.

Other mid-sized IPOs include the Kochi-based automobile retailer Popular Vehicles & Services which last week filed for a Rs 700-crore issue; beauty care & wellness firm VLCC; Sapphire Foods which operates all the Yum Brands outlets in the country like KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell; Go Fashion India (Go Colors); Fusion Microfinance; and the payment solutions provider AGS Transact Technologies which filed a Rs 800-crore issue on Friday.

And the biggest day for the street was August 4, when four companies–Krsnaa Diagnostics (Rs 1,213 crore), Windlas Biotech (Rs 401 crore in fresh issue and the rest in OFS), Devyani International, which is the largest franchisee of Pizza Hut, KFC and Costa Coffee in the country (Rs 1,838-crore), and Exxaro Tiles that manufactures vitrified tiles (Rs 161-crore) — launched their IPOs.

The companies are buoyed by bumper listings of Clean Science & Technology, GR Infraprojects, Zomato (which was the biggest issue so far this year with Rs 9,300 crore issue) and Tatva Chintan Pharma Chem.

The AGS issue is purely an offer-for-sale of equity shares by promoter Ravi B Goyal and other selling shareholders. Goyal will sell shares worth up to Rs 792 crore through the OFS and other selling shareholders will offload shares worth Rs 8 crore.

Meanwhile, the first 15 days of August saw eight companies successfully completing IPOs and collecting over Rs 18,200 crore in proceeds.

Some of the marquee names that completed the share sale process are the Chennai-based specialty chemicals manufacturer Chemplast Sanmar which raised Rs 3,850 crore; contract development and manufacturing organization Windlas Biotech (Rs 401 crore); home financier Aptus Value Housing (Rs 2,780 crore), the online auto retailing platform Cartrade Tech (Rs 3,000 crore), and drug firm Krsnaa Diagnostics (Rs 1,213 crore), also completed share sale.

Despite an over 20.3 times oversubscription to the Rs 3,000-crore Cartrade issue, the stock made a tepid debut on the Street on Friday and tumbled nearly 8 per cent at close even it opened lower at Rs 1,600, as against the issue price of Rs 1,618.

Besides, Nuvoco Vista Corporation, which has completed the Rs 5,000 crore IPO and is set for listing next Monday, is part of the Nirma Group and is among the largest cement and concrete manufacturers, offering a range of products like cement, ready-mix concrete, building materials like adhesives, wall putty, dry plaster, cover blocks, among others.