Freshara Agro Exports shares list at 16% premium over IPO price on NSE SME

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Shares of Freshara Agro Exports were off to a decent start on its stock market debut on October 24 after listing at Rs 135, commanding a premium of 16.3 percent over the issue price of Rs 116 per share on the NSE SME platform.

The listing gains, however, miss grey market estimates where shares were trading at a premium of 43 percent. The grey market is an unofficial ecosystem where shares start trading much before the offer opens for subscription and continue to trade till the listing day.

The Rs 75.4-crore public offer, which is a fresh issue of 65 lakh shares, received an overwhelming response from investors after the IPO was subscribed a massive 236 times over three days. Non-institutional investors mopped up 510 times the quota set aside for them while retail investors purchased 181 times the allotted quota. Qualified institutional buyers or QIBs also participated, buying 129 times their portion.

Freshara Agro Exports was established in 2015. The company procures, processes, and exports preserved gherkins and other pickled goods from India to various countries. Through a contract farming program, Freshara exports raw produce sourced from local farmers in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and parts of Andhra Pradesh. About 70 percent of the produce is "not ready to eat" and is supplied directly to factories for further processing into finished products.

The company plans to utilize the funds being raised for several purposes, including capital expenditure, funding its working capital requirements, meeting general corporate purposes, and covering issue-related expenses.