The initial public offering (IPO) of education-focused publishing house S Chand & Company Ltd crossed the halfway mark on the first day of the issue on Wednesday, led by interest across investor categories.
The public offering of nearly 7.69 million shares—excluding anchor investors’ portion—received bids for 3.98 million shares, stock exchange data showed.
Retail investors bid for nearly 60% of the shares reserved for them.
The quota of shares reserved for institutional buyers was subscribed 60.11%. The portion set aside for non-institutional investors—such as corporate houses and wealthy individuals—was covered nearly 23%.
On Wednesday, benchmark equity indices surged to record highs replicating the mood in global markets.
S Chand increased the size of its initial share sale as the Everstone Capital-backed company looks to benefit from a rise in stock markets this year.
The IPO comes barely months after S Chand made one of the largest acquisitions in India’s education-related publishing segment. As first reported by VCCircle, it picked up a majority stake at an enterprise value of Rs 220 crore ($32.8 million then) in Kolkata-based Chhaya Prakashani Pvt. Ltd, which publishes books for schools students of up to 12th standard (K-12) as well as college and engineering students.
The company raised Rs 219 crore (around $34 million) from anchor investors on Tuesday.
The firm is raising Rs 325 crore by issuing new shares, according to the draft red herring prospectus it filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). It had earlier targeted to mop up Rs 300 crore.
The IPO also includes an offer for sale of about 6 million shares by Everstone and other shareholders, including the promoters. The selling shareholders will mobilise up to Rs 403 crore.
At the upper end of the Rs 660-670 per share price band, the company will have a valuation of Rs 2,325 crore (around $360 million).
S Chand is one of close to a dozen companies that received regulatory approval to float an IPO. In addition, around 10 firms have sought clearance from SEBI to go public.
The companies that have already floated their IPOs this year include stock exchange operator BSE Ltd; Avenue Supermarts Ltd, which operates hypermarket chain D-Mart; FM radio firm Music Broadcast Ltd and Shankara Building Products Ltd.
S Chand, which is also backed by International Finance Corporation, had filed its draft red herring prospectus with SEBI on 19 December. It received SEBI’s clearance last month.
For further details on the company and its IPO, click here.
