S Chand IPO a hit, oversubscribed 59 times on last day

The initial public offering of textbook publisher S Chand and Company saw solid investor demand as it was oversubscribed 59.28 times on the last day of offer on Friday.

The IPO received bids for 45,56,00,794 shares against the total issue size of 76,85,284 shares, data available with the NSE till 1745 hours showed.

S Chand had raised nearly Rs 219 crore from anchor investors on Tuesday.

The price band for the offer is Rs 660-670 a share.

The IPO comprises fresh issue of shares up to Rs 325 crore. Besides, the existing shareholders, including Everstone Capital, will collectively sell 6,023,236 shares worth Rs 403.5 crore, taking the total IPO size to Rs 728.5 crore.

Proceeds from the issue will be utilised for repayment and prepayment of loans as well as for general corporate purposes. The loan amount includes those taken by its subsidiary for funding the acquisition of Chhaya Prakashani.

JM Financial Institutional Securities, Axis Capital and Credit Suisse Securities (India) Pvt are the merchant bankers to the offer.

Last year, the company had acquired 74 per cent of the outstanding share capital of Chhaya Prakashani Pvt.

The company offers 53 consumer brands across knowledge products and services, including S Chand, Vikas, Madhubun, Saraswati, Destination Success and Ignitor.