S Chand IPO Oversubscribed With One Day To Go 

S Chand and Company Ltd.'s initial public offering (IPO) has received bids nearly double the shares put on offer by the existing shareholders, at the end of day two, according to one of its leading book manager Axis Capital Ltd. The subscription will remain open for another day.

The highest demand so far has come from Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) who have put in bids for more than 2 times the issue set aside for such investors. 50 percent of the issuance has been set aside for QIBs.

The retail segment which makes up for 35 percent of the offer, has also received bids for more than two times the shares on offer.

Participation from non institutional high networth individuals have remained muted so far, with the segment receiving bids for only 32 percent of the stocks on offer.

The price band for the IPO has been fixed at Rs 660-670 per share and can be applied in bid lots of 22 equity shares and its multiples.

JM Financial Institutional Securities Ltd., and Credit Suisse Securities (India) Private Ltd are also book leading managers.

The IPO is a combination of fresh issue and offer for sale, and the company is looking to raise Rs 729 crore. S Chand had already raised Rs 219 crore from 15 anchor investors selling 32.6 lakh equity shares at Rs 670 each.

S Chand is publisher mainly focused on educational books. CL Educate Ltd. is the only company from the education sector to get listed so far, this year. It is also the only stock to list at a discount in 2017.

Brokerage Verdict

Brokerages like Angel Broking and Prabhudas Lilladher have a ‘subscribe’ rating on the issue with both of them citing the company’s high growth potential and the expected fall in debt.