Vodafone Idea’s `18,000 crore follow-on public offer (FPO) got subscribed 26% on Thursday, with retail investors keeping away from the issue even as the portion set aside for the institutional investors received strong response, according to data from the exchanges.
The company received bids for 3.31 billion shares on the first day of the issue against 12.60 billion shares on offer.
In continuation with the stellar anchor round, the portion set aside for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) got subscribed 61% on the first day. Just like with the anchor round, the demand was driven by foreign institutional investors (FIIs).
The beleaguered telecom operator had raised about `5,400 crore from marquee investors, including GQG Partners and Fidelity, as part of its anchor allotment ahead of the FPO.
The company has set aside 50% of the issue for QIBs, 15% for non-institutional investors and the rest for retail investors.
The retail investors only subscribed to 6% of the portion set aside for them on Thursday, while the portion set aside for non-individual investors was subscribed 28%.
There have been apprehensions about whether retail investors will be enthused to take part in the FPO given that the offer price is not at a large discount to the market price and Vodafone Idea is loss-making.
Shares of Vodafone Idea rose nearly 2% to close at `13.20 on Thursday after strong response from anchor investors for the FPO.
The company has fixed the price band of `10-11 per share for the FPO. Axis Capital, Jefferies India and SBI Capital Markets are the lead managers for the issue.