LG Electronics India surged 50.4 per cent in its trading debut on Tuesday and notched a valuation of $13.07 billion, eclipsing its South Korean parent’s market capitalisation, as investors piled into the country’s most bid-for IPO since 2008.
Shares of the Indian arm of LG Electronics made a strong debut on the National Stock Exchange of India, opening at 1,710.10 rupees and rising to 1,714.90 rupees, well above the issue price of 1,140 rupees.
The debut valued the company above its $8.73 billion target and its South Korean parent’s roughly $9 billion market cap.
It also put the firm ahead of its India-listed peers such as Whirlpool, Voltas, and Havells, which are valued between $1.7 billion and $10.4 billion.
The company’s listing performance was the best for a billion-dollar IPO in India since 2021, and comes in the midst of what is India’s second-busiest quarter on record for IPOs, with WeWork India and Tata Capital posting lacklustre debuts in recent days.
“After a long time, we’re seeing a genuinely strong IPO in the consumer space — solid fundamentals, reasonable valuations and sector-leading growth prospects,” said Dhiraj Relli, managing director and CEO of HDFC Securities.
LG Electronics, India’s second-biggest appliance maker, whipped up strong demand at the bidding stage. Investors snapped up its $1.3 billion IPO within hours of opening, with bids worth a staggering $50 billion.
The investor euphoria made it the most subscribed billion-dollar offering in nearly two decades, eclipsing interest seen in high-profile listings such as Life Insurance Corp of India’s $2.7 billion issue in 2022, and Paytm’s $2.5 billion debut and Zomato’s $1.3 billion flotation in 2021.
At the share sale, qualified institutional buyers bid 166.5-fold their allotted quota, while non-institutional and retail investors subscribed 22.4 times and 3.54 times, respectively, according to exchange data.
“Institutional investors are unlikely to be satisfied with the current 5 billion–6 billion rupee allocation and will be forced to participate aggressively in the listing and beyond to achieve reasonable sizing,” Relli added.
($1 = 88.7680 Indian rupees)
