Quest Laboratories shines on market debut, lists at 60% premium on NSE SME

Quest Laboratories is a pharmaceutical company manufacturing a range of antibiotics, antimalarials, antispasmodics, anti-inflammatories

Shares of Quest Laboratories Limited made an impressive stock exchange debut on the NSE SME platform on May 23, listing at Rs 155, a premium of 60 percent over the issue price of Rs 97.

However, the listing gains missed grey market estimates where shares were trading at a premium of 82 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.

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The Rs 43.16-crore public offer, which is a fresh issue of 44.5 lakh shares, garnered robust investor interest as the issue was subscribed over 85 times. Non-institutional investors were at the forefront, buying 184 times their allotted quota. Retail investors purchased 58 times the portion set aside for them. QIBs were also active, purchasing 57 times their portion.

Established in 1998, Quest Laboratories Limited is a pharmaceutical company manufacturing a range of antibiotics, antimalarials, antispasmodics, anti-inflammatories, antiemetics, respiratory medications, diabetes treatments, antidepressants, and more.

The company plans to allocate fresh proceeds to cover capital expenditures for buying plant and machinery to support the expansion of the current manufacturing facility. Additionally, some proceeds will be directed towards meeting the company's working capital needs and general corporate purposes.

Quest Laboratories IPO price band is set at Rs 93 to Rs 97 per share.

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