Street signs: Foreign banks give a miss to rail PSUs

Except HSBC, none of the foreign banks has bid for mandate of IRCTC, IRFC & Ircon International

Foreign banks give a miss to rail PSUs  
 

Foreign investment banks don’t seem too enthused by initial public offerings (IPOs) of public sector undertakings (PSUs) under railways. Except HSBC, none of the foreign banks has bid for the mandate of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, Indian Railway Finance Corporation and Ircon International. “The fees earned on PSU issues are minimal. Bankers usually participate in these offerings to consolidate their position in the league table. However, these three IPOs are not too big and, hence, wouldn’t help improve league table position,” said a banker. In contrast, domestic players, including SBI Capital Markets, ICICI Securities and Axis Capital are in the reckoning to handle these IPOs.

Pavan Burugula   

Leading fund manager presses brakes on fresh flows 

One of the country’s leading fund houses is going slow when it comes to pushing sales to investors. According to sources, the fund manager has sounded off his sales head not to aggressively market the scheme. Industry players say the scheme’s assets have grown large and the fund manager doesn’t see much value in stocks at the current juncture. Expensive valuations, amid strong inflows, could be an industrywide problem, as cash level in the equity segment on an aggregate level has reached six per cent, most in five years.        

                

Chandan Kishore Kant

S Chand commands 25%  premium in grey market  

The Rs 728-crore initial public offering (IPO) of education venture S Chand and Company could do well if grey market premiums are anything to go by. According to market players, shares of the company are commanding premium of 22-25 per cent in the grey market. S Chand, the first IPO of the financial year 2017-18, is entering the market after stellar success of Avenue Supermarts and Shankara Building Products IPOs launched in March. S Chand is seeking valuations of about 36 times its FY17 estimated earnings at issue price of Rs 660 to Rs 670 apiece.

Pavan Burugula