Patanjali-promoted Ruchi Soya crashes 14% ahead of listing of new shares

Market players said several HNIs who applied for the FPO dumped the shares taking advantage of the attractive spread

Shares of Patanjali Ayurved-promoted Ruchi Soya Industries crashed 14 per cent to end at Rs 754.8 on Wednesday. The drop comes ahead of the listing of its 66.15 million new shares issued in the Rs 4,300-crore follow-on public offering (FPO). These new shares will start trading on Friday.

Market players said several high networth individuals (HNIs) who applied for the FPO dumped the shares taking advantage of the attractive spread. Shares have been issued at Rs 650 apiece in the FPO, nearly 14 per cent below the last close.

On Wednesday, 14.4 million shares traded on the counter—5.4 times the previous day and 20 times its one-month average trading volume.

“HNIs have sold shares in huge numbers to pocket arbitrage gains. The trade settlement takes place on a T+2 basis. The new shares issued in the FPO will be used for settlement. We expect further selling on Thursday from retail investors,” said an official with a broking house.

Ruchi Soya’s FPO, which closed on March 30, has garnered 3.6 times subscription. The stock is now down 23 per cent from Rs 977.4 on March 30.

Following the FPO, the public shareholding in Ruchi Soya will increase from 1.1 per cent to nearly 19 per cent. This will help facilitate better price discovery.