Railways protests against IRCTC public offer price

NEW DELHI: Investors may be rejoicing Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation's (IRCTC's) blockbuster listing, but the railways is not happy with the pricing of the public sector e-commerce company's valuation.

The national transporter has lodged a protest about the price at which shares were offered to investors and has sought better due diligence for future transactions, given the long pipeline of public offers of state-run companies, reported The Times of India on Thursday.

IRCTC shares, which were offered at Rs 310 to retail investors and its employees, and at Rs 320 to other investors during the book-building process, listed at Rs 644 on the BSE and closed at Rs 729 on Monday, valuing the company at nearly Rs 11,700 crore. On Wednesday, the stock closed at a shade above Rs 700, with the market cap pegged at Rs 11,210 crore. In terms of over-subscription, the railway PSU offer was the most successful issue by a state-run company. In contrast, the government raised Rs 645 crore for a 12.6% stake that it sold, which valued the company at over Rs 5,000 crore, raising a question marks over the valuation undertaken by the merchant bankers. IDBI Capital Markets, SBI Capital Markets and Yes Securities managed the issue.