EMS IPO subscribed 75.28 times at the close

EMS IPO, worth ₹321.24 crore consisted of a combination of fresh issue and offer for sale. The fresh issue was to the tune of ₹146.24 crore while the offer for sale (OFS) was worth ₹175 crore. The IPO pricing was done in the band of ₹200 to ₹211 with the final price to be discovered through the process of book building. While the QIB portion only picked up traction on the last day, the retail portion and the HNI / NII portion got fully subscribed on the first day of the IPO itself. In fact, even the overall IPO had been fully subscribed on the first day of the IPO itself. Firstly, let us look at re the details of overall allocation.

Quick update on the overall IPO response

The IPO saw fairly steady response on Day-1 and Day-2 of the IPO (largely on the back of support from retail and HNI investors) and closed with rather healthy subscription numbers at the close of Day-3. In fact, the company got fully subscribed on the first day of the IPO itself. As per the combined bid details put out by the BSE at the close of Day-3, EMS Ltd IPO was subscribed 75.28X overall, with best demand coming from the QIB segment, followed by the HNI / NII segment and the retail segment in that order. In fact, the institutional segment saw the entire traction picking up only on the last day. The HNI portion did do well and a lot of the surge of funding applications and corporate applications did come in on the last day of the IPO. Retail portion got fully subscribed on Day-1 and built up heft gradually.

As of close of 12th September 2023, out of the 107.87 lakh shares on offer in the IPO, EMS Ltd saw bids for 8,121.04 lakh shares. This implies an overall subscription of 75.28X overall. The granular break-up of subscriptions was in favour of the QIB investors followed by the HNI / NII investors while the retail portion got the lowest subscription among the various categories. QIB bids and NII bids typically gather most of the momentum on the last day, and that was the case in this issue also in the case of QIB bids. Both the QIB and the NII bids picked momentum on the last day and added to its heft of the previous days. Here are the details of the category-wise subscription.

Subscription status of QIB Portion

Let us first talk about the pre-IPO anchor placement. On 07th September 2023, EMS Ltd did an anchor placement with 30% of the IPO size getting absorbed by the anchors. Out of the 1,52,24,645 shares on offer, the anchors picked up 45,67,476 shares accounting for 30% of the total IPO size. The anchor placement reporting was made to the BSE late on 07th September 2023. The IPO of EMS Ltd opened on 08th September 2023 in the price band of ₹200 to ₹211 and closed for subscription on 12th September 2023 (both days inclusive). The entire anchor allocation was made at the upper price band of ₹211 (which included a premium of ₹201 per share). The anchor allocation was made across a total of 6 anchor investors as detailed below.

Data Source: BSE Filings

The QIB portion (net of anchor allocation as explained above) had a quota of 29.84 lakh shares of which it has got bids for 4,566.82 lakh shares at the close of Day-3, implying a subscription ratio of 153.02X for QIBs at the close of Day-3. QIB bids typically get bunched on the last day and while the heavy demand for the anchor placement had given an indication of the institutional appetite for the EMS Ltd IPO subscription overall, the actual demand did turn to be quite robust for the IPO.

Subscription status of HNI / NII Portion

The HNI portion got subscribed 82.32X (getting applications for 1,927.04 lakh shares against the quota of 23.41 lakh shares). That is a very strong response at the close of Day-3 largely because this segment normally sees the maximum response bunched on the last day. Bulk of the funded applications and corporate applications, come in on the last day of the IPO, and that was visible as the overall HNI / NII portion added to its heft on the last day of the IPO. Apart from the QIB portion, even HNIs saw good traction on the last day.

Now the NII/HNI portion is reported in two parts viz. bids below ₹10 lakhs (S-HNI) and bids above ₹10 lakhs (B-HNI). The bids above the ₹10 lakh category (B-HNIs) typically represents most of the major funding customers. If you break up the HNI portion, the above ₹10 lakh bid category got subscribed 81.12X while the below ₹10 lakh bid category (S-HNIs) got subscribed 84.72X. This is just for information and is already part of the overall HNI bids explained in the previous para.

Subscription status of Retail Individuals

The retail portion was subscribed just 29.79X at the close of Day-3, showing steady to strong retail appetite. It must be noted that retail allocation is 35% in this IPO. For retail investors; out of the 54.62 lakh shares on offer, valid bids were received for 1,627.19 lakh shares, which included bids for 1,398.95 lakh shares at the cut-off price. The IPO is priced in the band of (₹200 to ₹211) and has closed for subscription as of the close of Tuesday, 12th September 2023.

Brief on the business model of EMS Ltd

EMS Ltd was incorporated in 2012. The changed its name from EMS Infracon to EMS Ltd to reflect the focused business model that is predicated around waste water and sewage treatment. It is engaged in the business of providing water and wastewater collection, treatment, and disposal services. EMS Ltd offers Sewerage solutions, Water Supply Systems, Water and Waste Treatment Plants. In addition, EMS Ltd also provides Electrical Transmission and Distribution, Road, and Allied works. Apart from its basic operations, it also earns revenues from the operation and maintenance of Wastewater Scheme Projects (WWSPs) and Water Supply Scheme Projects (WSSPs) for government authorities/bodies. WWSPs include Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) along with Sewage Network Schemes and Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs). It also operates pumping stations and engages in the laying of pipelines for the supply of water.

EMS Ltd has its own civil construction team with a team of 57 well-qualified and skilled engineers, supported by third-party consultants and industry experts. EMS Ltd currently operates and maintains about 13 projects including WWSPs, WSSPs, STPs & HAM. The company also has its own team for civil construction works, thereby reducing dependence on third parties and offering one-stop solutions. The scope of EMS Ltd services includes the design and engineering of the projects, procurement of raw materials, and execution at the site, with overall project management up to the commissioning of projects. The issue will be lead managed by Khambatta Securities Ltd. KFIN Technologies Ltd (formerly Karvy Computershare Ltd) will be the registrar to the issue.