By: Chandrashekar Bhat
FINTECH firm Paytm’s Rs 183-billion (£1.83 bn) IPO was oversubscribed 1.89 times on the last day of India’s biggest share sale on Wednesday (10), making it one of the country’s most valued companies.
The initial public offering of Paytm’s parent company One97 Communications Ltd received bids for 91.4 million equity shares against the offer size of 48.3 million shares, according to information available from stock exchanges.
While the portion set aside for retail investors was oversubscribed early, institutional buyers including FIIs showed interest on Wednesday (10), seeking 2.79 times the number of shares reserved for them.
However, non-institutional investors bid for just about 24 per cent of the shares offered to them.
Its large issue size meant that the sheer value of its retail size is much larger than that seen in recent IPOs of Zomato and Nykaa combined.
According to stock exchange data, Paytm’s IPO saw surplus demand as qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), domestic institutional investors and mutual funds bid on the final day of the offer.
QIBs, who were less than enthusiastic in participating in the IPO in the initial two days, sought 73.6 million shares against 26.3m reserved for them. Of this, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sought 72.8m shares.
Retail investors subscribed 1.66 times the 870,000 shares reserved for them.
Paytm priced its shares in a band of Rs 2,080-2,150 (£2.77-21.47) apiece, valuing the company at Rs 1.39 trillion (£14 bn) at the upper end of the price band. This was greater than Coal India’s Rs 150 bn (£1.5 bn) a decade back.
Share allotment is likely to take place on November 15 and the listing on November 18.
The Ant Group-backed Paytm last week closed India’s largest anchor round, raising Rs 82.35 bn (£830m) from 100 institutional traders, together with the federal government of Singapore, BlackRock International Funds, Canada Pension Plan Funding Board and Abu Dhabi Funding Authority.
Launched by a schoolteacher’s son from the northern Indian town of Aligarh nearly a decade ago as a platform for cellular recharging, Paytm grew. Its use swelled in 2016 when a ban on high-value banknotes in India boosted digital funds.
Incorporated in 2000, One97 Communications is India’s leading digital ecosystem for consumers and merchants. It offers a range of services to the users – payment services and financial services.
(PTI)
