)
The initial public offering (IPO) of amusement park company Wonderla Holidays, which closed on Wednesday, got subscribed 38 times, the most in two years.
The offering got applications worth Rs 6,800 crore against its size of Rs 180 crore, as it drew investors across segments.
Investment bankers said the response could help lift sentiment in the primary markets. Only one company, Justdial, had managed to raise money through an IPO in 2013. The Wonderla issue was the first successful IPO of 2014.
“The success of Wonderla will help change the mood for capital raising in general and IPOs in particular. The market situation hasn't been great, with only one IPO last year. This is a good start to the year and we will see more IPOs in the near term. The response to the issue also mirrors the overall bullishness we have been seeing in the secondary market,” said Ajay Saraf, executive director, ICICI Securities.
Wonderla is a Kochi-based company that operates one of the largest amusement parks in the country. Market players said the issue attracted both long- and short-term investors, who typically exit on listing day gains.
The category meant for institutional investors saw 17 times subscription and the retail quota was subscribed 7.3 times. The high net worth individual (HNI) segment, where traders typically invest through margin funding, was subscribed 159 times.
“Attractive valuations, good management and the story drew investors. We have seen robust investments across all categories. A couple of more such issues can set the ball rolling for the IPO market. It will also bring a lot of issuers to the market,” said Satyen Shah, head (equity capital markets), Edelweiss Financial Services.
ICICI Securities and Edelweiss were the investment banks handling the offering.
Wonderla is promoted by Kochouseph Chittilappilly, also the founder of V-Guard Industries, a mid-cap company whose share price has risen sharply since its IPO in 2008.
