Godrej Agrovet Ltd’s initial public offering crossed the halfway mark on the first day of the issue on Wednesday led by retail investors.
The public offering of 18.02 million shares, excluding the anchor portion, received bids for 9.37 million shares, stock exchange data showed. The book was subscribed 52.01%.
The portion reserved for retail investors, whose total bid value cannot exceed Rs 2 lakh, was covered 87% of the 8.75 million shares on offer.
The quota of shares reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) was subscribed 27.2% while the portion meant for non-institutional investors, comprising corporate bodies and high net-worth individuals, was subscribed 10%.
The company on Tuesday raised Rs 341.19 crore ($52 million) from anchor investors including Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC ahead of its initial public offering. The firm allotted 7.4 million equity shares at the upper end of the Rs 450-460 price band to 25 anchor investors.
Singapore state investment firm Temasek, which had invested through its investment arm V-Sciences Investments Pte Ltd, is part-exiting its holding by selling 7% stake in the company. It had picked up 19.97% stake nearly five years ago for Rs 572 crore ($105 million then). This was the single-largest alternative investment in the agri-business segment in India and valued Godrej Agrovet at around Rs 2,860 crore ($525 million then).
Godrej Agrovet, the agri-business subsidiary of Godrej Industries, had filed its draft proposal on 19 July and got regulatory approval last month. The IPO closes on Friday.
The IPO comprises a fresh issue of shares worth Rs 300 crore besides an offer for sale by Godrej Industries and V-Sciences Investments.
It will be the first IPO by a Godrej company in more than eight years. The group’s real estate arm Godrej Properties went public with a Rs 500-crore IPO in December 2009.
Godrej Agrovet is the largest manufacturer of compound feed in India, producing 1.1 million tonnes of feed and nutritional products for cattle, poultry and aquaculture annually. It also has palm oil plantations and makes hybrid seeds.
Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, Axis Capital and Credit Suisse Securities (India) are merchant bankers for the proposed IPO.
