Despite oil at $105 and a war in the Middle East, Dalal Street’s primary market had a busy week — and the biggest deal of all may still be ahead.
Global markets have spent the week in varying degrees of panic. The US-Iran conflict has sent Brent crude surging past $105 a barrel, foreign institutional investors are pulling money out, and equity volatility is climbing.
Even so, the IPO circuit has seen plenty of action this week. The Apsis Aerospace SME drew over Rs 3,000 crore in bids against a Rs 35 crore issue, a government-backed highway trust closed nearly 14 times oversubscribed, and in the most consequential development of the week, the National Stock Exchange formally kicked off preparations for what could be a very large IPO in Indian capital market history.
NSE announced it has appointed 20 merchant bankers — a record for any Indian IPO — along with eight law firms and other intermediaries to manage its proposed listing. The syndicate includes virtually every significant name in Indian investment banking: Kotak Mahindra Capital, JM Financial, Axis Capital, ICICI Securities, SBI Capital Markets, Motilal Oswal, Nuvama, HDFC Bank, Avendus, and Equirus on the domestic side, with Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, JP Morgan, and HSBC representing the international bracket. Law firms include Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Khaitan and Co, and Latham and Watkins among others.
The IPO, expected to be structured entirely as an offer for sale by existing shareholders, is anticipated to raise around Rs 23,000 crore which would make it one of the largest listings India has ever seen. In FY25, NSE reported revenue of Rs 19,177 crore and net profit of Rs 12,188 crore. The DRHP is expected to be filed with SEBI within two months and a potential launch before the end of the calendar year. The exchange first attempted to go public in 2016 but was held back for nearly a decade by the co-location case and the regulatory proceedings that followed.
Active Pipeline
The broader IPO market backed up the positive sentiment with some strong numbers. NHAI’s Raajmarg Infra Investment Trust, raising Rs 6,000 crore through a portfolio of five operational toll roads on the Golden Quadrilateral, closed oversubscribed nearly 14 times. The QIB category alone was subscribed 19.14 times — a significant vote of confidence for a yield-focused infrastructure vehicle at a time when global risk appetite is under pressure. The trust had already raised Rs 1,728 crore from anchor investors ahead of opening. Allotment is expected March 18, with listing on March 24.
On the SME front, Apsis Aerocom, a Bengaluru-based maker of precision components for the aerospace and defence industries, closed its Rs 35.77 crore issue on NSE Emerge with total bids worth over Rs 3,000 crore — an overall subscription of 129.33 times. The numbers underline the sustained appetite among retail and HNI investors for defence-linked plays, even at the SME level.
Innovision Limited, the manpower services and toll plaza management company seeking to raise Rs 322.84 crore, was the week’s outlier — closing subscribed at just 31%, with QIBs at 99%, NIIs at 36%, and retail at 27%. The issue struggled despite a high retail allocation of 65% of the net offer.
Besides, three mainboard issues are lined up for the coming fortnight. GSP Crop Science, an agrochemical manufacturer, opens March 16 to raise Rs 400 crore. Central Mine Planning and Design Institute, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Coal India, are set to open next week.
Basmati rice and FMCG company Amir Chand Jagdish Kumar Exports opens March 24 targeting Rs 440 crore. On the SME side, Novus Novelty and Tipco Engineering are both expected to open shortly.
For a primary market operating in the middle of a genuine global crisis, the calendar looks more than healthy.
