The initial public offering (IPO) of speciality chemicals maker Neogen Chemicals Ltd crossed the one-fourth mark on the first day on Wednesday, with retail individual investors leading the charge.
The public offering of nearly 4.33 million shares, excluding the anchor allotment, received bids for 1.175 million shares. The overall book was subscribed 27% at the end of day one, stock-exchange data showed.
The quota of shares reserved for retail investors was covered almost half, while non-institutional investors such as corporate houses and affluent individuals bid for 10% of the shares reserved for them.
Qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) did not bid for a single share, data showed.
Neogen, whose IPO will close on Friday, is targeting a valuation of as much as Rs 565 crore ($81.3 million).
The company had raised Rs 39.70 crore ($5.7 million) on Tuesday as part of the anchor allotment.
Indian asset management companies such as SBI Mutual Fund, Axis Mutual Fund, L&T Mutual Fund and Sundaram Mutual Fund bought Neogen’s shares at the upper end of the price band of Rs 212-215.
The IPO comprises a fresh issue of shares worth Rs 70 crore and a secondary market sale of up to 2.9 million shares by promoters Haridas Thakarshi Kanani and Beena Haridas Kanani, according to the company's draft prospectus.
The duo together hold 15.2 million shares, or an 80.8% stake, in the company.
Inga Advisors Pvt. Ltd and Batlivala & Karani Securities India Pvt. Ltd are managing Neogen’s IPO.
Neogen had filed its draft prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) last November. It received SEBI's approval on 8 February.
The company will join a bunch of bigger listed peers such as Aarti Industries Ltd, Atul Ltd and Vinati Organics Ltd on the stock exchanges.
In the broader chemicals sector, Blackstone-backed SH Kelkar & Co. Ltd, Shree Pushkar Chemicals & Fertilisers and Galaxy Surfactants Ltd have made stock market debuts over the past three years. Another specialty chemicals maker that went public last year was Fine Organics Industries Ltd.
Neogen Chemicals was founded in 1989 by chairman Haridas Kanani, a graduate of Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay. The company began business operations in 1991 at a factory at Mahape, Navi Mumbai. Thane-based Neogen also has a factory in Vadodara, Gujarat.
Neogen makes bromine- and lithium-based specialty chemicals. Over the years it has expanded its range of products. It now makes 187 products, comprising 170 organic chemicals and 17 inorganic chemicals.