The Indian capital market is set to witness one of the busiest fortnights in its history as six companies have lined up to raise about £3.14 billion by November 10. The six issues include the one from tech-enabled payments major One 97 Communications, operating under the Paytm brand, which aims to raise £1.83 billion. Paytm has priced its IPO shares in the Rs 2,080-2,150 band per share, indicating the company seeks a valuation of about $20 billion. This will make the Paytm IPO the largest ever in india's history. Till date the biggest IPO in India was the £1.55 billion offer by Coal India in October-November 2010.
According to market sources, this could have two major implications for Dalal Street and the economy. First, there are fears among traders that the deluge of IPOs could force several investors to offload part of their portfolio and divert that money to invest in these offers, especially for listing gains. Second, the inflows from foreign funds, estimated to be about 40-50% of the total offer, could mean £1.2 to 1.5 billion of forex inflows. This, in turn, could help appreciate the rupee.
In addition to the big ticket listings, three more high profile IPOs are also lined up after these got the Sebi green signal in the last few weeks. Adani Wilmar is eyeing £450 million, One MobiKwik is expected to raise £190 million and the offer size for Star Health is expected to be in excess of £300 million, market sources said. These offers could open anytime now, merchant bankers said.
