Aether Ind IPO subscribed 49% a day before close on sparse overall interest

None of the three investor categories completes quota, with HNI interest being the dullest at 16%

Aether Industries’ initial public offering (IPO) was only half covered a day before its close. The institutional investor portion of the issue was subscribed 39 per cent, high networth individual portion 16 per cent and retail portion 67 per cent.

Aether Industries is a manufacturer of advanced intermediates and active ingredients, catering to the pharma and speciality chemical industries. The company is looking to raise Rs 627 crore of fresh capital through the IPO. The issue also comprises secondary share sale worth Rs 181 crore.

The price band for the issue is Rs 610-642 per share. At the top-end, Aether is valued at nearly Rs 8,000 crore on a post-dilution basis. The top-end of the price band is 75.6 times its trailing 12-month earnings per share of Rs 8.5. Peers Clean Science & Technology and Fine Organic are trading at P/E multiple of 82.7x and 80.2x, respectively, as per analysts.