Investment Bank Prepares for Public Offering

DAM Capital Advisors has successfully raised Rs 251 crore from anchor investors, just a day before the opening of its initial public offering (IPO) for public subscription.

The anchor investors include prominent names such as Nomura, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Societe Generale, Nippon India Mutual Fund (MF), HDFC MF, Kotak MF, and Aditya Birla Sun Life MF, as revealed by a circular on the BSE website.

According to the circular, DAM Capital has allotted 88.86 lakh shares to 33 funds at Rs 283 apiece, which is also the upper end of the price band. This transaction totals Rs 251.48 crore.

The IPO, with a price band of Rs 269-283 per share, is set to open for public subscription on December 19 and conclude on December 23. The IPO is solely an offer-for-sale (OFS) of 2.97 crore equity shares worth Rs 840.25 crore by the promoter and investors at the upper end of the price band, with no fresh issue component.

All proceeds from the IPO will go directly to the selling shareholders, rather than to the company. The company aims to go public to achieve the benefit of listing equity shares on the stock exchanges and allow selling shareholders to sell their shares through the OFS, as stated in its draft papers.

At the upper end of the price band, the company's market capitalization has been estimated at Rs 2,000 crore. The issue has been reserved as follows: half for qualified institutional buyers, 35% for retail investors, and the remaining 15% for non-institutional investors.

DAM Capital Advisors, led by Dharmesh Anil Mehta, is a leading investment bank in the country, with a market share of 12.1% based on the number of IPOs and qualified institutional placements undertaken by it as the book-running lead manager in FY24, according to a Crisil report. Nuvama Wealth Management is the sole merchant banker for the issue, and the equity shares of the company are expected to be listed on December 27 on the BSE and the NSE.