Business news November 19 highlights: NTPC Green IPO subscribed 33% on Day 1 of offer

Investors rushed into safe-haven currencies, including the U.S. dollar, the Swiss franc and the yen, after a warning from Russia over its updated nuclear doctrine.

President Vladimir Putin issued a warning to the United States on Tuesday, lowering the threshold for a nuclear strike after the administration of Joe Biden reportedly allowed Ukraine to fire American-made long-range missiles deep into Russia.

The yen jumped 0.5% versus the dollar and 0.8% against the euro, hitting its highest since Oct. 4 at 161.50.

The initial public offer of NTPC Green Energy Ltd, the renewable energy arm of NTPC, got subscribed 33 per cent on the first day of share sale on Tuesday.

The share sale received bids for 19,46,53,968 shares against 59,31,67,575 shares on offer, according to data available with the NSE.

The portion for Retail Individual Investors (RIIs) fetched 1.33 times subscription while the category for non-institutional investors got subscribed 15 per cent.

Consumer electrical goods maker Havells India Ltd on Tuesday said it will invest Rs 480 crore to set up a facility for manufacturing refrigerators at Ghiloth in Rajasthan.

The company, which had in August last year stated that it was exploring the possibility to set up a new facility to manufacture refrigerators in Ghiloth, said it has "now decided to set up the facility" at the place.

The new manufacturing plant is proposed to have a capacity of 14 lakh units, Havells India said in a regulatory filing.

The investment required is approximately Rs 480 crore and the proposed capacity is expected to be added by Q2FY27, it said, adding the investments would be funded through internal accruals.

Joe McCann was sitting in his Miami condo, eyes glued to screens flashing with bitcoin trades as the American election results rolled in.

"When the first polls closed, we started to see massive U.S. buying and it just hasn't stopped since," said McCann, founder of crypto-focused hedge fund Asymmetric. "The sentiment in the crypto community is a form of elation at this point."

Indeed bitcoin has skyrocketed over 32% since Nov. 5 to an all time high of more than $91,000 dollars as traders bet President-elect Donald Trump's promised support for digital assets would lead to a less restrictive regulatory regime and inject some life back into bitcoin after a listless few months.

On Binance, the world's biggest crypto exchange, the average bitcoin daily trading volume from Nov. 6 to Nov. 13 jumped to about $493 million, nearly double the year's average of around $252 million, as per crypto data provider Kaiko. Volumes on Coinbase were triple the year's average during the same period, averaging over $108 million per day.

Meanwhile, U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds tracking the spot price of bitcoin, products favored by institutional investors, notched their biggest daily net inflows on record of $1.43 billion dollars on Nov. 7, according to CoinShares.

The Ahmedabad-based company is issuing 1.08 crore shares at Rs. 44.95 apiece to existing shareholders Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], November 19: The Rs. 48.95 crore Rights Issue of Ahmedabad-based Mercury Trade Links Limited (BSE: 512415), which is engaged in the business of trading agro products, opened on November 7 and will close on December 5.

The proceeds of the Rights Issue will be utilised to fund Mercury Trade Links’ working capital requirements and general corporate purposes, among others. The company is issuing shares at Rs. 44.95 apiece. On Wednesday, November 13, the shares closed at Rs. 66.69. This is the company’s second Rights Issue, having issued shares at Rs. 40 per share to existing shareholders in March 2024 to raise Rs. 9.90 crore.

India will open two new consulates in Belfast and Manchester in the UK, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced in the first meeting with his British counterpart Keir Starmer even as he called for extradition of fugitive Indian businessmen from the UK.

Following the talks, held on the sidelines of the G20 summit late on Monday, Starmer said the negotiations for an India-UK free trade pact will be relaunched in the new year, in remarks that appeared to dispel anxiety about his Labour government's approach to the proposed trade deal.

The Indian side pressed for extradition of fugitive Indian businessmen Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi with Modi underlining the importance of addressing the issue of economic offenders from India in the UK.

Birla Opus Paints, a part of Aditya Birla Group firm Grasim Industries, on Tuesday said its fourth plant at Chamarajnagar, Mysore has become operational, raising its total manufacturing capacity to 866 million litres per annum.

The company, which had earlier announced plans to establish six manufacturing plants with a total capacity of 1,332 MLPA (million litres per annum), at an upfront investment of Rs 10,000 crore, said the Chamarajnagar plant has a capacity of 230 MLPA and will produce water-based paints, enamel paints and wood finish paints.

Currently, four plants are operational, contributing 866 MLPA. Of the remaining two, the Mahad plant near Pune has entered trial production, while the Kharagpur plant near Kolkata is progressing as planned, Birla Opus Paints said in a statement.

The European Union is planning to compel Chinese companies to transfer technology to European businesses in return for EU subsidies, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing two senior EU officials.

Stocks slumped, with European equities shedding 1%, and global bonds climbed on worries over the latest escalation in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

S&P 500 futures dipped 0.5%. The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell seven basis points to 4.34%. The moves were steeper in Europe, with German bond yields dropping to the lowest since October. The euro retreated 0.5%. Poland’s main stock index sank 2.6%.

Markets were rattled by news that President Vladimir Putin is pushing ahead with a nuclear doctrine that allows Russia to expand use of atomic weapons — an announcement that comes just days after the US gave Ukraine limited permission for long-range missile strikes on Russian territory. A report from RBC-Ukraine said the first such strike has taken place.

• Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) - 0.00 times
• Non Institutional Investors(NIIS) - 0.13 times
• Retail Individual Investors (RIIs) - 1.24 times
• Employee Reserved - 0.16 times
• Reservation Portion Shareholder - 0.52 times
• Total - 0.30 times

• Vishal Mega Mart, a supermarket chain owned by Kedaara Capital and Partners Group, is preparing to launch its Rs ₹8,000-crore initial public offering (IPO) by mid-December, according to sources cited by Moneycontrol.
• Initially planned for the end of November, the IPO—India's largest private equity-backed offering of 2024 and the fourth-largest share sale of the year—was postponed to next month, the sources added. (Read More)

The Indian IT services sector faces several structural challenges, including declining growth rates and increasing competition from global players and domestic captives, according to Sumeet Jain, India Technology Senior Research Analyst, CLSA. (Read More)

The NTPC Green Energy IPO achieved a subscription rate of 24% on its opening day, November 19, with bids placed for 14.2 crore shares out of the 59.3 crore shares on offer. Retail Individual Investors (RIIs) demonstrated strong interest, fully subscribing to their allocated 8.6 crore shares. Non-Institutional Investors (NIIs) subscribed to 1.2 crore shares against their allocation of 12.9 crore shares. In contrast, Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) showed minimal participation, bidding for just over 7,700 shares out of the 25.9 crore shares reserved for them. (Read More)

• Domain Expertise: NTPC Green Energy's management team specializes in new energy solutions with a focus on prudent growth, according to Reliance Securities.
• Business Model: The company follows a prudent business model, showcasing strong earnings growth, improved financials, and better return ratios.
• Recommendation: Reliance Securities recommends subscribing to the IPO for the long term.
• Key Strengths (SBI Securities):
• Strong parentage under NTPC.
• Robust and diversified product portfolio across geographies.
• Proven execution experience.
• Access to low-cost capital.
• These factors make it a compelling investment opportunity, as per SBI Securities.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), renowned for being home to several Nobel laureates, is taking a unique and unconventional approach to its investments in India. Ranked second in the global higher education index, MIT, registered as a foreign portfolio investor (FPI) in India, is focusing on smaller companies that attract little attention from other foreign funds. (Read More)

• Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) - 0.00 times
• Non Institutional Investors(NIIS) - 0.07 times
• Retail Individual Investors (RIIs) - 0.84 times
• Employee Reserved - 0.11 times
• Reservation Portion Shareholder - 0.34 times
• Total - 0.20 times

The combined market capitalization of all listed companies on the BSE has declined by nearly Rs 50 lakh crore since its peak on September 27, amid a sustained correction in domestic equities. From a record high of Rs 477.93 lakh crore, it has fallen to Rs 429.33 lakh crore, reflecting a drop of Rs 48.60 lakh crore. (Read More)

• The NTPC Green Energy IPO achieved a 12% subscription rate on its opening day, November 19, with investors subscribing to over 7 crore shares out of the 59.3 crore shares available.
• Retail Individual Investors (RIIs): Subscribed to 50% of their allocated 8.6 crore shares, totaling 4.3 crore shares.
• Non-Institutional Investors (NIIs): Purchased 56.2 lakh shares out of the 12.9 crore shares allocated.
• Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs): No subscriptions were recorded in this category on the first day. (Read More)

• Market bulls regained control as the equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty bounced back in trade on November 19 after days of downtrend on value-buying at lower levels.
• The Nifty PSE index, an index of India's 20 state-run companies, jumped 2.11 percent with all constituents trading with gains. Firm global trends and continuous buying by domestic institutional investors also added to markets' rebound. Here are key factors behind market reversal in Tuesday's trading session. (Read More)

• Facebook parent Meta plans to appeal against the Competition Commission of India (CCI)'s November 18 antitrust order related to WhatsApp's 2021 privacy policy update.
• "We disagree with the CCI’s decision...We are committed to finding a path forward that allows us to continue providing the experiences that people and businesses have come to expect from us" a Meta spokesperson told Moneycontrol. (Read More)

As per investorgain.com, the GMP for NTPC Green stands at Rs 0.70. The weak GMP trend suggests that the NTPC Green Energy will probably witness a muted listing on November 27.

The public issue of NTPC Green Energy is likely to be listed on both Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange on November 27.

More than 50 percent of stocks across key indices – Nifty50, Nifty 500, MidCap, and SmallCap -- have fallen below their 200-day moving average (DMA) amid the recent correction in Indian equities, prompting analysts to advise caution. Among these, 30 stocks are from the benchmark Nifty 50; 286 from the Nifty 500; 61 from the Nifty MidCap 100, and 58 are from the Nifty SmallCap 100 index. (Read More)

The IPO reserves not less than 75% for Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIB), up to 15% for Non-Institutional Investors (NII), and up to 10% for retail investors. Equity shares totaling up to Rs 20 crore are reserved for employees, with a Rs 5 per share discount offered to eligible employees.

Foreign investors are pulling record sums from Indian shares since October and piling into initial public offerings in search for better returns. Their primary market purchases, including IPOs and preferential share sales, hit $11.5 billion this year, surpassing the previous record set in 2021, according to data published by Central Depository Services Ltd. In contrast, global funds have sold more than $13 billion on the exchanges, helping send the main NSE Nifty 50 index into correction. (Read More)

NTPC Green Energy aims to raise approximately Rs 10,000 crore through a book-built offer of 92.59 crore fresh equity shares. The company has set the price band for the public offer between Rs 102 and Rs 108 per share, with a face value of Rs 10 per share. The lot size for the public offer is 138 shares per lot.

HDFC Bank, IDBI Capital Markets & Securities, Nuvama Wealth Management and IIFL Capital Services are the merchant bankers to the NTPC Green Energy public issue.

The company has allocated Rs 200 crore worth of shares for its employees and Rs 1,000 crore (10% of the issue size) for NTPC shareholders. Employees will receive these shares at a discount of ₹5 per share on the final issue price.

NTPC Green Energy operates solar and wind power assets across more than six states, with an operational capacity of 3,220 MW in solar projects and 100 MW in wind projects. Additionally, it has 13,576 MW of contracted and awarded projects, along with 9,175 MW of capacity in the pipeline.

• The US Department of Justice will ask a judge to force Alphabet's Google to sell off its Chrome internet browser, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the plans.
• The DOJ will also ask the judge, who ruled in August that Google illegally monopolized the search market, to require measures related to artificial intelligence and its Android smartphone operating system, the report said.
• Google controls how people view the internet and what ads they see in part through its Chrome browser, which typically uses Google search, gathers information important to Google's ad business, and is estimated to have about two-thirds of the global browser market. (Reuters)

"As of September 2024, NTPC Renewable Energy had consolidated outstanding borrowings of Rs 17,057.5 crore. Post repayment, its total borrowings are estimated to reduce to Rs 9,557.5 crore," the company said in its Red Herring Prospectus

NTPC Green Energy plans to utilize Rs 7,500 crore from the net issue proceeds to repay the debt of its subsidiary, NTPC Renewable Energy.

• "Of the total allocation of 36.67 crore equity shares to anchor investors, 14.53 crore shares were allotted to 16 domestic mutual funds across 72 schemes," NTPC Green Energy stated.
• Prior to the IPO launch, NTPC held a 100% stake in the company as its sole shareholder.

• Funding for European technology startups in 2024 is set to stall slightly below last year's level but a window for new listings is opening again, an industry report by venture capital firm Atomico said on Tuesday.
• Europe has more than 350 companies valued over $1 billion. However, over the past decade only 15 European countries have seen initial public offerings of over $1 billion, with almost half of them in Britain, data collected by Atomico showed. (Reuters)

• The yen got some much-needed respite on Tuesday as it steadied on the stronger side of 155 per dollar thanks to a pullback in the US currency, which ran into profit-taking after a stellar rally that saw it scale a one-year high.
• The yen last edged 0.2% higher to 154.40 per dollar, recovering from its fall in the previous session after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda stuck to his usual script and failed to offer any hints on whether a rate hike could come in December. (Reuters)

Domestic institutional investors that acquired shares in NTPC Green Energy include LIC of India, ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, Nippon Life India, Kotak AMC, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, DSP Mutual Fund, Whiteoak Capital, Canara Robeco MF, Invesco India, SBI Life Insurance, HDFC Life Insurance, Edelweiss Trusteeship, Baroda BNP Paribas MF, HSBC MF, Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance, Allianz India Equity, Bandhan Mutual Fund, PI Opportunities AIF, Bank of India MF, Union MF, ITI MF, and Canara HSBC Life Insurance.

Prominent global institutional investors who acquired shares in NTPC Green Energy through the anchor book include New World Fund, International Growth and Income Fund, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, New York State Teachers Retirement System, Government of Singapore, Monetary Authority of Singapore, T. Rowe Price, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and BNP Paribas.

• The IPO is an entirely fresh issue by the company, with no offer-for-sale component. The price band for the offering is set at Rs 102-108 per share.
• In its exchange filing, the NTPC subsidiary stated, "The company has allocated 36,66,66,666 equity shares to anchor investors at a price of Rs 108 per share."

NTPC Green Energy, the largest renewable energy public sector enterprise, raised ₹3,960 crore through its anchor book on November 18, ahead of its IPO launch. The Rs 10,000-crore IPO opens for subscription on November 19 and will remain open until November 22.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the top trending business news today. As part of our ongoing coverage, we will be tracking the opening of NTPC Green Energy pubic offer. In other IPO news, we will also bring latest on Zinka Logistics IPO Allotment Status. Stay with us for latest IPO trends and other top business news as and when they happen.