Western Carriers IPO sees 4.84 times subscription on 2nd day of bidding

Western Carriers India IPO

The public issue of Western Carriers India received 4.84 times subscription on September 16, the second day of bidding, with retail and non-institutional investors being at the leading position.

The logistics services provider targets to raise Rs 492.88 crore through its initial public offering during September 13-18. The IPO is a combination of fresh issuance of equity shares worth Rs 400 crore, and an offer-for-sale of 54 lakh shares worth Rs 92.88 crore by promoter Rajendra Sethia.

Investors bid 10.1 crore equity shares against the IPO size of 2.08 crore equity shares, the subscription data on the exchanges showed.

Retail investors bought 7.33 times the allotted quota and non-institutional investors bid 5.36 times the portion set aside for them, while the part set aside for qualified institutional buyers was subscribed 0.03 times.

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The Kolkata-based company has mobilised Rs 147.86 crore via anchor book on September 12, a day before the issue opening. Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund, Nippon Life India, Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC, BNP Paribas Arbitrage, Citigroup Global, and Societe Generale were some of the investors in the anchor book.

The logistics solutions provider will repay Rs 163.5 crore out of the fresh issue proceeds for repaying debt. Further, Rs 151.7 crore will be utilised for purchase of commercial vehicles, 40 feet specialised containers and 20 feet normal shipping containers, and reach stackers.

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With more than 50 years of experience, Western Carriers claims to be the largest private, multi-modal, rail focused, 4PL asset-light logistics company in India in terms of container volumes handled or operated by private players in fiscal 2023.