Urban Company, the Indian home services marketplace, raised ₹854 crore in its anchor investor round on September 9. The allocations drew in some of the world’s biggest institutional names alongside heavyweight Indian mutual funds, signalling solid appetite ahead of its much-anticipated initial public offering (IPO).
The company’s IPO is also set to open for subscription from September 10-12.
Urban Company allotted just over 8.29 crore equity shares at ₹103 apiece to its anchor investors, according to a filing with the BSE. Among the 29 schemes and 13 mutual funds that participated were Government Pension Fund Global, Goldman Sachs, Nomura, UTI, Aditya Birla Sun Life, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, and SBI Life Insurance. Domestic stalwarts such as HDFC Mutual Fund, Nippon India, Sundaram Mutual Fund and Bajaj Allianz were also on the list.
At the top of the allocation were Government Pension Fund Global, Nippon India, and Nomura Funds, each taking around 4.22% of the anchor book. Their bid provides Urban Company with both credibility and visibility as it steps into the public market.
Meanwhile, investor sentiment otherwise also appears buoyant. As of Tuesday, the grey market premium (GMP) for the IPO stood at ₹34 per share, implying a potential listing price of around ₹137 , a 33% jump on the upper end of the issue price band. That premium has eased slightly from the previous day, slipping from ₹35, but still indicates healthy retail and institutional interest.
Urban Company is eyeing a fund raise of ₹1,900 crore through its IPO, comprising a fresh issue of shares worth ₹472 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) component of ₹1,428 crore. The price band has been set between ₹98 and ₹103 per share, with investors able to bid in lots of 145 shares.
Proceeds from the fresh issue are earmarked for technology development and cloud infrastructure upgrades, as well as office lease payments, marketing spends and general corporate purposes.
Kotak Mahindra Capital is leading the book-running for the offer, while MUFG Intime India is serving as registrar.
