SH Kelkar IPO subscribed 27 times

Fund raising through IPOs in 2015 touches Rs 11,000 cr, nine times that of 2014

SH Kelkar’s initial public offering (IPO) has been subscribed 27 times, compared to the 20.2 million shares on offer. The Rs 500-crore IPO saw 546 million bids, worth Rs 9,800 crore.

Closure of the public float comes a day after InterGlobe Aviation successfully raised Rs 3,100 crore, the country’s biggest IPO in about three years. Experts said the encouraging response to the offerings, especially from institutional investors, underscored a revival in the primary market this year. So far this year, companies have raised about Rs 11,000 crore through 18 IPOs, about nine times the amount raised last year. Going by the offer documents filed with the market regulator, the momentum is likely to continue.

In the SH Kelkar IPO, the institutional investor and qualified institutional buyer portion was subscribed 25 times, while the non-institutional investor, or high net worth investor, was subscribed 87 times. The retail investor segment saw about two times the demand compared to the shares on offer.

About Rs 300 crore of the issue comprised a secondary sale by private equity firm Blackstone, as well as the company’s promoters. The company has raised Rs 210 crore in fresh equity, to be used to retire debt, including of its subsidiaries. SH Kelkar’s consolidated net debt stands at Rs 180 crore.

For its IPO, SH Kelkar had set a price band of Rs 173-180, 27.3-28.3 times the 2015-16 earnings on a fully diluted equity base.

The company manufactures products such as soaps, shower gels, detergents, shampoos, hair oils and perfumes. It is a supplier to about 4,000 companies, including Godrej Consumer, Wipro Consumer and Marico.