30 cos may float public issues in Oct-Nov to mop up Rs 45,000 cr

New Delhi, Sep 26 (PTI):
Hectic fundraising through initial public offerings (IPOs) is expected in October-November, with at least 30 companies are looking to collectively raise over Rs 45,000 crore through initial share-sales, merchant banking sources said. Of the total fundraising, a large chunk would be garnered by technology-driven companies.
The successful IPO of food delivery company Zomato, which was overwhelmingly subscribed by over 38 times, encouraged new-age tech companies to come out with their primary share-sales. Historically, companies like Zomato have raised funds from private equity players and the IPO has opened up a new source of funding for new-age tech companies, Jyoti Roy, deputy vice-president (equity strategist) of Angel One, said. The firms that are expected to raise funds through their IPOs during October-November include Policybazaar (Rs 6,017 crore), Emcure Pharmaceuticals (Rs 4,500 crore) Nykaa (Rs 4,000 crore), CMS Info Systems (Rs 2,000 crore), MobiKwik Systems (Rs 1,900 crore), the merchant banking sources said. In addition, Northern Arc Capital (Rs 1,800 crore), Ixigo (Rs 1,600 crore), Sapphire Foods (Rs 1,500 crore), Fincare Small Finance Bank (Rs 1,330 crore), Sterlite Power (Rs 1,250 crore) RateGain Travel Technologies (Rs 1,200 crore) and Supriya Lifescience (Rs 1,200 crore) may float their IPOs during the period under review, they added.
Angel One’s Roy attributed the impressive IPO pipeline in the coming month to several factors, including a stronger-than-expected recovery in the economy after the second wave, continued FPIs and domestic flows in the markets and an increase in retail participation in the stock market in the past one year.
Going forward, the IPO boom is expected to extend in the coming year if the prevailing market situation remains constant or doesn’t change much, Kaushlendra Singh Sengar, founder and CEO at INVEST19, said. Making a similar statement, Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of True Beacon and Zerodha, said if the bull run continues for the next 1-2 years, the IPO rush will continue. Moreover, the technology sector is expected to remain a major market driver.
So far, in 2021, as many as 40 companies have floated their IPOs to raise Rs 64,217 crore. Further, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC will launch its Rs 2,778-crore initial share-sale on September 29.
Apart from these, PowerGrid InvIT, the infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) sponsored by Power Grid Corporation of India, mopped up Rs 7,735 crore through its IPO, and Brookfield India Real Estate Trust raised Rs 3,800 crore via its initial share-sale.
This was way higher than Rs 26,611 crore raised by 15 companies through initial share-sales in the entire 2020.
Such impressive fundraising through IPOs was last seen in 2017 when firms mobilised Rs 67,147 crore through 36 initial share-sales. According to Kamath, IPOs rely heavily on market cycles and the IPO exuberance that has been witnessed in the last 18 months is a function of the current bull cycle. Companies look to take advantage of investor sentiments.