The initial public offer of eyewear retailer Lenskart Solutions Ltd sailed through on the first day of bidding on Friday, driven by institutional buyers' and retail investors' demand.
The ₹ 7,278-crore IPO received bids for 11,22,94,482 shares against 9,97,61,257 shares on offer, translating into 1.13 times subscription, as per NSE data.
Among investors' categories, Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) part attracted 1.42 times subscription, while the quota for Retail Individual Investors (RIIs) got subscribed 1.31 times. The category for non-institutional investors received 41 % subscription.
The company's IPO will conclude on November 4.
The eyewear firm has fixed a price band of ₹ 382 to ₹ 402 per share for the IPO, targeting a valuation of over ₹ 69,700 crore at the upper end.
Lenskart's public offering has a fresh issue of shares worth ₹ 2,150 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of 12.75 crore equity shares by promoters and investors.
As a part of the OFS, promoters -- Peyush Bansal, Neha Bansal, Amit Chaudhary, and Sumeet Kapahi, and investors -- SVF II Lightbulb (Cayman) Ltd, Schroders Capital Private Equity Asia Mauritius Ltd, PI Opportunities Fund-II, Macritchie Investments Pte Ltd, Kedaara Capital Fund II LLP, and Alpha Wave Ventures LP -- would offload shares.
According to the BSE circular, the company finalised the allocation of 8.13 crore equity shares to anchor investors. The shares were allotted at ₹ 402 apiece, aggregating ₹ 3,268 crore.
Lenskart proposes to use the proceeds from the IPO for such strategic initiatives as capital expenditure for setting up new company-operated, company-owned (CoCo) stores in India, and payments related to lease, rent, and licence agreements for these CoCo stores.
Investments in technology and cloud infrastructure, brand marketing and business promotion to enhance brand awareness, potential unidentified inorganic acquisitions, and general corporate purposes were some of the other goals stated by the firm.
In the pre-IPO funding round, SBI Mutual Fund invested ₹ 100 crore in Lenskart, while Radhakishan Damani, founder of Avenue Supermarts (DMart), invested around ₹ 90 crore.
The company, one of India's largest omni-channel eyewear retailers, offers a wide range of prescription eyeglasses, sunglasses, and contact lenses through its online platform and retail network.
Founded in 2008, Lenskart started as an online eyewear platform in 2010 and opened its first physical store in New Delhi in 2013.
The company has a presence across metro, tier-1, and tier-2 cities, along with international operations in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
Lenskart will make its debut on the stock exchanges on November 10.
