Sapphire Foods IPO subscribed 6.62 times on final day

“The food services market in India is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.0% from the financial year 2020 to financial year 2025, and is expected to reach Rs 6,211 billion by financial year 2025,” said HDFC Securities in a pre-IPO note.

The initial share sale of Sapphire Foods, operator of KFC and Pizza Hut outlets, closed with a 6.62x subscription on its final day of bidding on Thursday. The company received bids for 6.39 crore equity shares, against its offer of 96.63 lakh shares.

Retail interest in the public offer remained buoyant as the portion set aside for individual investors received 8.70 times subscription. The portion set aside for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) and non-institutional investors (NIIs) received subscriptions of 7.50 and 3.46 times, respectively.

The company is unlikely to get any proceeds from the Rs 2,073-crore IPO as the issue was a complete offer-for-sale by existing shareholders and promoters.

The offer opened for subscription on November 9. A day before, the company garnered Rs 933 crore from anchor investors, allocating 7,906,473 equity shares at the upper price band of Rs 1,180/share.

The company is a leading name in the quick service restaurant (QSR) chain and will further enjoy a substantial presence in India and Sri Lanka in future. The food service market in India has grown significantly since 2015 and is expected to grow at higher levels in 2025, brokerages said.

“The food services market in India is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.0% from the financial year 2020 to financial year 2025, and is expected to reach Rs 6,211 billion by financial year 2025,” said HDFC Securities in a pre-IPO note.

As of June 30, 2021, the firm owned and operated 209 KFC restaurants in India and the Maldives, 239 Pizza Hut restaurants in India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, and two Taco Bell restaurants in Sri Lanka.