India's Schloss, Aegis Vopak IPOs fully sold on final day, retail demand subdued

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By Hritam Mukherjee Indian initial public offerings of Leela hotels-owner Schloss Bangalore and Aegis Vopak Terminals were oversubscribed on Wednesday, hauled across the line by institutional buyers as retail demand floundered.India's IPO market is still finding its legs after a slow start to the year, following blockbuster listings from companies such as Swiggy NSE:SWIGGY and NTPC Green NSE:NTPCGREEN in 2024.India's blue-chip Nifty 50 NSE:NIFTY index is up nearly 5% this year but is still more than 5% below record-high levels logged in September 2024, amid uncertainties around global tariffs and worries about their impact to trade.Proceeds from IPOs are down 29% on-year so far this year, while number of issues have dropped 38%, data from LSEG showed. IPO hopefuls, such as LG Electronics India, have either delayed plans or downsized their issue sizes.Schloss issued fresh shares and existing investor Brookfield sold some of its stake in the $409 million IPO. Aegis, a JV of Dutch tank storage group Vopak EURONEXT:VPK, only issued new shares in its $328 million offering. Retail investors, who typically look to pocket listing gains, bid for just 83% of their reserved portion in Schloss' books, while Aegis drew just 77%.Institutional buyers, including foreign investors and banks, bid for over seven times the shares allotted for them in Schloss, and over three times their portion in Aegis."Retail investors and high-net worth individuals recorded lacklustre enthusiasm as they found valuations to be too demanding, especially when markets have still not completely settled and global uncertainty fears loom," said Astha Jain, a research analyst with Hem Securities.Schloss is targeting a valuation of about $1.7 billion, while Aegis Vopak is aiming one at $3.05 billion. Both the firms are slated to start trading on Indian stock exchanges on June 2.

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