Spectre haunting IPOs: Bids at lower end of price bands

As if low subscription numbers for initial public offerings were not enough...

As if low subscription numbers for initial public offerings (IPO) were not enough, companies raising money from the capital markets are now staring at a new animal: raising money at the lower end of the price band. All the IPOs currently open for subscription are getting a majority of bids at the lower end of their price bands.

Property developer Emaar MGF, which had managed a total subscription of just 40 per cent by today, saw only 32.5 per cent of the bids come at the cut-off price of Rs 630. Almost 58 per cent have been received at Rs 540, which is the lower end of the issue price; 67 per cent fall between Rs 540-550.

This shows that investors who are willing to invest in these low-sentiment times are going in for the lower end of the price band. If this trend continues till the closing date, allotment of shares will be somewhere towards the lower end of the issue price.

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Healthcare company Wockhardt Hospital’s IPO, with a Rs 225-260 price band, is no different. The issue has till now received bids for only 10 per cent of the total issue size. Of these, 41 per cent bids fall in the price band of Rs 225 and Rs 240 and 59 per cent bids are at the higher price band of Rs 260.

“If a public issue receives a minimum of 90 per cent subscription, the allotment has to be made and if the issue is not fully subscribed at the higher end of the price band, whatever bids are received within the price band are taken into account,” said Religare country head (investment banking) Kamlesh Gandhi. “In case a majority of bids fall in the lower end of the issue price band, the allotment will be at a lower price.”

With toll roads developer and operator IRB Infrastructure, even with the 4.3 times subscription the company has received so far, only 25.6 per cent (or 1.1 times) is at the higher end of the Rs 185-210 price band. As high as 73.4 per cent of the bids have been received at around Rs 185-190.

The issue price for OnMobile Global, a telecom value added service provider that closed its issue on January 29 in the Rs 425-450 price band has been fixed at Rs 440. Wind energy equipment manufacturer Shriram EPC, which closed its issue on February 1 in the Rs 290-330 price band, fixed it at Rs 300.