 "ICICI arm tops IPO rankings")
ICICI Securities has topped the initial public offering (IPO) league table in the first half of 2016. A league table in general shows how well institutions are performing in comparison with each other. ICICI Securities is ICICI Bank's investment banking arm. According to data provided by Bloomberg, ICICI Securities has managed five IPOs to help raise around Rs 1,216 crore for companies getting listed. In 2015, ICICI Securities had ended sixth in the IPO league table. Kotak Investment Banking, which was in pole position last year, is currently second, with four deals worth Rs 1,036 crore.
The overall equity league table for the first half of 2016 is topped by US-based Citibank, which has handled a total of six deals worth nearly Rs 7,000 crore. The overall equity league table ranks investment banks on not just IPOs, but also on other forms of fund-raising managed by them, such as rights offerings, offer for sale, and block transactions. In the overall equity league table, ICICI Securities is second, with nine deals worth Rs 4,053 crore. Last year, Citi was third, while ICICI Securities wasn't even among the top 10.
The first half of the year has seen a huge upsurge in IPOs even as other forms of fund-raising through stocks have taken a beating. In the first half of 2016, around Rs 8,000 crore was raised by way of IPOs, most since the first half of 2010.
Meanwhile, Citi is at the top of the overall equity league table, on the back of the handling of block transactions of Kotak Mahindra Bank and Eicher Motors. A block transaction is an order or trade submitted for the sale or purchase of a large quantity of securities. A block transaction involves a significantly large number of stocks or bonds being traded at an arranged price between two parties, to lessen the impact on the security price. ICICI Securities has handled public sector disinvestments such as those of NTPC, Container Corporation of India, and Engineers India.
So far, the three biggest IPOs of 2016 have been Equitas Holdings, worth Rs 2,177 crore, followed by Mahanagar Gas, Rs 1,040 crore, and Ujjivan Financial, Rs 882 crore. The three biggest non-IPO equity transactions of the year are the offer for sale of NTPC, Rs 5,032 crore, and NHPC, Rs 2,719 crore, and block transaction in the shares of Eicher Motors, Rs 2,097 crore.
Investment bankers expect the IPO momentum to continue in the second half, with several companies waiting to launch their IPOs. Some of the companies that may hit the market in the near term include Advanced Enzyme, RBL Bank, New Delhi Centre for Sight, SP Apparel, and GNA Axles. These companies cumulatively could raise around Rs 3,500 crore.
