GR Infra Projects, Clean Science IPOs subscribed close to 100x each

Attract bids worth over Rs 1.73 trillion

The initial public offers (IPO) of GR Infra Projects and Clean Science, which closed on Friday, received an enthusiastic response from investors. Both the IPOs generated bids worth more than Rs 1.73 trillion—an encouraging sign ahead of Zomato's mega offering next week.

The IPO of GR Infraprojects, a road construction company, was subscribed 102.6 times. Its qualified institutional buyer (QIB) portion subscribed 168.6 times, the high networth individual (HNI) portion was subscribed 238 times, and the retail portion was 12.6 times. The issue saw over 2.3 million retail applications.

GR Infra’s Rs 962 crore IPO was entirely a secondary share sale. The price band for the IPO is Rs 828 to Rs 837 per share. At the top-end the company will have a market cap of Rs 8,093 crore.

The IPO of Clean Science and Technology, specialty chemical manufacturer, was subscribed 95 times on Thursday. The bulk of the bids came from wealthy investors, with their quota already getting 211  times subscription. The QIB and retail buckets were subscribed 160 and 9.2 times, respectively.

Clean Science had set the price band for its Rs 1,546-crore IPO at Rs 880 to Rs 900 per share. The issue was also entirely secondary share sale. At the top-end of the price band, Clean Science will have a market cap of Rs 9,560 crore.

The strong response for the IPOs, however, has shifted liquidity away from the secondary markets, with the benchmark Sensex fell 1.3 per cent in the previous two trading sessions.

"The current hysteria and the rate at which companies are listing in the primary market may also end up sucking away liquidity, abandoning secondary markets high and dry," said Nirali Shah, Head of Equity Research, Samco Securities.

Zomato’s Rs 9,375-crore IPO will remain open between July 14 and 16. Market players said HNIs and QIBs may have to wait for a refund from these two issues before placing their bets on Zomato.