(Bloomberg) -- India’s booming market for initial public offerings is set to face is biggest supply of mega share sales, following approval from the market regulator for proposals from Hyundai Motor India Pvt., Swiggy Ltd. and Vishal Mega Mart Pvt.
The three companies together are expected to sell about $5 billion of shares, with Hyundai Motor said to plan an offering of at least $3 billion, Bloomberg reported. Combined with other approved deals and those in the pipeline, new offerings may raise over $7 billion in the final quarter of the year, marking a record quarterly fundraising for Indian firms.
The string of large IPOs underscores a rush among global and local companies to cash in on the strong demand from institutions and retail investors. Companies raised about $3.3 billion in the September quarter, the biggest mop-up since March 2022, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
“Mutual funds are sitting on good cash levels and equity flows have been strong. This will ensure good demand for upcoming IPOs,” said Aishvarya Dadheech, chief investment officer at Fident Asset Management Pvt.
Read: SoftBank-Backed Swiggy Files for Initial Share Sale in India (1)
Vishal Mega Mart, a supermarket chain owner backed by Partners Group Holding AG and Kedaara Capital, plans to raise between $850 million to $1 billion. Softbank Group Corp.-backed Swiggy on Friday filed draft IPO papers to raise $448 million through new shares, with insiders selling an additional 185.28 million shares.
Other large IPOs awaiting regulatory approval include the renewable-energy unit of India’s state-run power producer NTPC Ltd., which is seeking to raise up to $1.2 billion. Construction giant Afcons Infrastructure Ltd.’s offering that aims to raise about $840 million has been cleared for listing.
India has become a hotspot for dealmaking, with companies raising almost $20 billion through IPOs and primary share offerings this year, more than double the amount raised in the same period in 2023, the data show. The Securities and Exchange Board of India is processing documents from over 40 companies, according to data on its website.
The boom has also alarmed regulators, with SEBI recently urging investors to exercise caution when buying shares of micro firms following cases of price manipulation and accounting frauds in these businesses. Exchange operator BSE Ltd. last month asked bankers to increase their oversight of tiny IPOs after finding discrepancies in the filing documents of some recent deals, Bloomberg reported.
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