IRCTC IPO was expected to raise 645 crore, investors poured in Rs 72,000 crore

New Delhi: The initial public offering of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) was a huge hit among investors as it got subscribed 111.91 times on the final day of bidding on Thursday.

Investors bid for over 225 crore shares of the company, compared with 2.02 crore shares on the offer, according to data from the National Stock Exchange, as of 6:00 pm on Thursday. As per the data on NSE, IRCTC received bids worth Rs 72,000 crore at the upper price band.

The Rs 645-crore IPO received bids for 225 crore shares against the total issue size of 2 crore scrips, according to the data available with exchanges till 1845 hours. The category meant for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) was subscribed 108.79 times, non-institutional investors (NIIs) was subscribed 354.52 times and retail investors was subscribed 14.65 times, according to merchant banking sources.

Meanwhile, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) in a tweet said, "IRCTC IPO has evoked tremendous response from all the categories of investors, with the issue being subscribed more than 111 times. The issue, which divested 12.6 per cent of GoI's stake in the CPSE is expected to generate a revenue of Rs 645 cr. It is the 2nd CPSE to be listed this fiscal."

The IPO was subscribed 3.25 times till the second day of bidding on Tuesday. Equity markets were closed on Wednesday on account of 'Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti'. The initial public offering (IPO) is in a price range of Rs 315-320 per share.

The issue comprises an offer-for-sale of 2.01 crore shares of face value of Rs 10 each. Out of the total issue size, 1,60,000 equity shares are reserved for eligible employees. The offer is being managed by YES Securities (India), SBI Capital Markets and IDBI Capital Markets & Securities.

IRCTC is the only entity authorised by Indian Railways to provide catering services to railways, online railway tickets and packaged drinking water at railway stations and trains in India.

Overall, IRCTC has been the best PSU as well as the most successful IPO in the last two fiscals in terms of overall subscription where it leads in the QIB, NII and employee segments, marketmen said. In retail category, RITES leads the PSU IPO league table.

IRCTC will not receive any proceeds from the offer and all proceeds will go to the government, according to the red herring prospectus.

The overwhelming response comes amid slowing growth in Asia's third-largest economy, which has hit sales of everything from cars to cookies, prompting the government to step in with deep cuts in corporate taxes and a raft of other measures to revive growth.

 

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