MUMBAI: The IPO for Manba Finance, a Mumbai-based NBFC that finances two and three wheelers, has been subscribed 224 times. The company that aimed to mobilise Rs 151 crore now has a demand for its shares worth nearly Rs 24,000 crore. This is excluding the Rs 45-crore worth of shares allotted to anchor investors last week.
High net worth investors were the biggest applicants in Manba Finance’s IPO, with the portion reserved for this group subscribed 512 times, data on BSE showed.The part reserved for institutional investors was subscribed 149 times while the one reserved for retail investors was subscribed 144 times. The price band for the IPO, that closed on Wednesday, was Rs 114 to Rs 120 per share. The stock is expected to list on BSE and NSE on Monday, Sept 30.
Of late, there has been unprecedented rush for IPOs in India. The IPO scene picked up during the later years of the pandemic, in the second half of 2021, and has been showing a strong trend that is often referred to as a ‘frenzy’. Compared to nearly Rs 73,100 crore raised in 2023 from 61 main board IPOs, these offers have together mobilised funds worth nearly Rs 84,900 crore so far in 2024, industry data showed.

The rush to buy stocks in an IPO is currently as widespread in the SME segment also. Recently, a two-wheeler dealership with two showrooms and eight employees got bids worth Rs 4,800 crore for a Rs 12 crore offer.
To rein in the frenzy and to save investors from being duped by unscrupulous investors, markets regulator Sebi has warned market players to be careful before investing in any offer.
NSE, on its part, recently changed rules to make it more stringent for SME companies to list on its platform. And BSE officials on Tuesday met about 80 merchant bankers “to discuss best practices that could further strengthen and smoothen (the) SME IPO listing process,” a spokesperson for the bourse said.