Adlabs' IPO subscribed 1.1 times

The Rs 435-crore initial public offering (IPO) of amusement park operator Adlabs Entertainment managed to scrape through on the final day, helped by last-minute bids from institutional investors. The IPO was subscribed 1.1 times according to provisional data provided by the stock exchanges. The qualified institutional buyer (QIB) segment was subscribed 1.2 times and the retail segment was subscribed 1.4 times, while the wealthy investor category got only 70 per cent subscription.

The lukewarm response was despite the Manmohan Shetty-promoted company cutting the IPO price by as much as 20 per cent. Adlabs has revised downward the price band at Rs 180 -215 a share versus earlier band of Rs 221-230 a share. The IPO was extended by three trading days as it was subscribed less than half on March 12, its earlier scheduled close.

According to market players, investors were wary of the Adlabs offerings due to a lack of profitability track record, high debt and expensive valuations compared to its peers including the recently-listed Kochi-based Wonderla Holidays.

Adlabs was this year’s second IPO after Ortel Communications, which, too, had seen poor response to its Rs 250-crore offering.

Wind power solution company Inox Wind’s Rs 1,000-crore IPO will open for subscription on Wednesday. IPO market experts good response for Inox’s offering from investors; its shares are changing hands at attractive valuations in the grey market. The company has priced its offering between Rs 315 and Rs 325 a share and is providing an additional discount of Rs 15 a share to retail investors. Inox is raising Rs 700 crore by issuing fresh shares to fund its working capital requirement among other things, while the rest is secondary sale by promoter Gujarat Fluorochemicals.

The response to the Inox issue could set the tone for future IPOs, say experts.

Meanwhile, Supreme (India) Impex, biggest SME company in terms of turnover, successfully managed to raise nearly Rs 8 crore through an IPO on NSE’s Emerge exchange on Tuesday.