The SME IPO market was introduced back in 2012, thus it has been around for well over ten years. However, it has never made headlines as much as it has this year because several of the offers have achieved exceptionally high subscription numbers followed by significant listing gains.
Public issues that entered the market in 2024 have a significant lead on the list of the top 20 SME IPOs in terms of oversubscription, according to data from Prime Database. HOAC Foods India, at the top of the list, saw subscriptions exceeding 1,000 times apiece when the issue was issued in May 2024. Of the top 20, up to 16 were introduced in the current calendar year. After that, Magenta Lifecare was introduced in June 2024 and received close to 1,003 subscriptions.
This takes on importance because the trend is being observed at a time when several market participants and the regulator have voiced worries about the emergence of fake demand and unsupportable valuations in the SME sector.
SMEs like Winsol Engineers (411 percent), Kay Cee Energy & Infra (343 percent), Medicamen Organics (326 percent), GP Eco Solutions India (319 percent), and Maxposure Ltd (317 percent) delivered the best returns on the day of listing when compared to their respective offer prices. Meanwhile, 2024 occupies the top five slots in terms of listing gains as well.
The current year saw the SME IPOs of Indian Emulsifiers, Purv Flexipack, and Divine Power Energy, all of which rank in the top 10 in terms of returns on the day of listing. Notably, at a special pre-open session on the day of debut, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) declared in July that it has chosen to impose an overall cap of ninety percent on the issue price for SME IPOs.
