BUSINESS

Happy days are here again for IPO market

By BS Reporter in Mumbai
February 20, 2008 12:37 IST
The primary markets are finally coming back on track, with the initial public offer (IPO) of state-run lender and electricity distributor Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) getting subscribed within 27 minutes of opening.

The IPO, which will raise Rs 1,640 crore (Rs 16.40 billion) at the upper end of the price band, was subscribed 2.14 times of the issue size at the end of the first day of the book building process.

Yet another IPO - that of V-Guard Industries - which had opened for subscription on Tuesday was subscribed 1.11 times till on Tuesday. On Monday itself, it was subscribed by 0.96 times.

This came as a relief as at least three high-profile IPOs of Wockhardt Hospitals, Emaar MGF Land and SVEC Constructions had to bite the dust due to poor response.

All three companies extended the issue period and lowered the price band but had to withdraw their offerings.

The stock of OnMobile Ltd  got listed on Tuesday at Rs 440 on the National Stock Exchange at par with the IPO price. 

The stock, however, closed the day on a buoyant note at Rs 518.15 - up by 17.16 per cent, or Rs 78.15, even while the key benchmark stock indices ended the day on a flat note.

Vibhav Kapoor, Group CIO of IL&FS, said the panic that was seen in the primary markets during the past couple of weeks seems to be evaporating and the situation may further improve if the secondary markets stabilise.

In REC's case, the IPO received bids for over 330 million shares at the end of the day, as against 156 million on offer. The book-building process is scheduled to close on February 22.

The issue constitutes about 18.18 per cent of the fully diluted post-issue capital of REC. The company has set a price band of Rs 90-105.

The Kerala-based V-Guard Industries, engaged in the manufacturing and marketing of electrical and electronic products, has fixed a price band of Rs 80-85 and proposed to raise up to Rs 68 crore (Rs 680 million) at the upper end of the price band.

According to investment bankers, the good investor interest in the two issues could be an indicator that overpriced issues, which do not leave anything for investors on the table, could face difficulties as markers are likely to remain highly volatile in the coming days.

Market analysts are also of the view that some of the big ticket issue would have to wait a bit longer as investors are yet to recover their losses from the Reliance Power IPO.

Even after a week of listing on the stock bourses, Reliance Power was struggling to close above is issue price of Rs 450. It was last quoted at Rs 413.50 on Tuesday on the NSE.

BS Reporter in Mumbai
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