Cox & Kings makes an impressive debut

Cox & Kings (India) ended Day 1 at Rs 426, a premium of around 30% to its issue price of Rs 330.

The stock had opened at a discount of Rs 26 points, but recovered soon enough and went on to touch a high of Rs 433 in intra-day trades. 

The counter saw huge trading volumes of 16.95 million shares.

Ajit Menon, President – IIFL Investment Banking (the investment banking arm of India Infoline) said, “The Cox and Kings brand has evolved over 250 years and is today one of the oldest brands in the Travel and Tourism industry. Over the course of its long history, the company has built a strong brand franchise for itself in overseas markets as well as in India. The company is an integrated player, offering both outbound and inbound services in several destinations across the globe. The company has been a pioneer in product innovation – the company leased a mountain in Switzerland and branded it in its own name ‘Mt. Cox & Kings’; the company is soon expected to launch a luxury train in India, covering several of the most popular tourism routes in India."

He adds that, the company is one of the largest organised tour operators, and derives a substantial share of its income from the leisure travel business. With its pan-India presence and a well established brand, Cox and Kings is one of the best poised plays to benefit from India’s changing demographic profile.

We are very pleased that the markets have recognized the strength of the Cox and Kings business model as evidenced by the strength and quality of the subscription and the very strong first day showing, he concludes.
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(Updated at 1020 am)

Cox & Kings (India) listed at a discount at Rs 304 on the BSE as against the issue price of Rs 330. The stock however soon jumped over the issue price and zoomed to a high of Rs 399, a hefty premium of 21% compared to the issue price.

The stock is now trading at Rs 385 on healthy volumes of around 3.3 million shares on the BSE.

The initial public offering (IPO) of 18,496,640 equity shares had received good response from investors and was subscribed 6.31 times.