Ruchi Soya FPO: FPIs cancel 97% bids during two-day withdrawal period

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have cancelled over 97 per cent of their bids made in Ruchi Soya’s follow-on public offering (FPO) during the two-day withdrawal period, data provided by stock exchanges showed. FPIs had bid for nearly 7.5 million shares, of which they cancelled 7.2 million, data shows. The number of bids withdrawn in the other categories were relatively muted.

Retail investors withdrew 569,835 bids (2.6 per cent of the total bids they placed), high networth individuals 1.3 million (1.1 per cent) and employees 3,759 (4.84 per cent). Mutual funds didn’t withdraw any bids. Overall, the subscription for the FPO fell from 3.6 times to 3.4 times. A total of 14,583 applications made in the FPO were cancelled.

Ruchi Soya’s FPO closed on Monday. However, the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has directed the company to give the option to investors to withdraw their bids until Wednesday due to “circulation of unsolicited SMSs advertising the issue”.

Through the FPO, Ruchi Soya has raised Rs 4,300 crore, which will be used to pare dent. Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurved owns 98.9 per cent stake in Ruchi Soya, while only 1.1 per cent is with the public. Following the FPO, Patanjali’s shareholding is expected to reduce to 81 per cent, while public shareholding will rise to 19 per cent. The price band for the FPO was Rs 615-Rs 650 per share. Shares of Ruchi Soya last closed at Rs 956, down 2.2 per cent.

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