Kochi:MSME sector raised Rs1.61 lakh crore from the public equity market through IPOs, FPOs and QIPs during 2017, which is 3.6 times higher the amount of Rs44,819 crore in the previous year.
According to PRIME Database, this is the highest amount ever raised in a calendar year with the previous highest being Rs97,746 crore in 2010.
The year witnessed significant activities on the SME platforms of BSE and NSE. There were as many as 133 SME IPOs, the higher ever, which collected a total of Rs1679 crore while the previous year saw 67 IPOs for Rs537 crore.
In all, 332 SMEs entered the market through IPO route and raised Rs3181 crore during the six year period ended 2017.
Another highlight of the year is that one of the SME IPOs succeeded in getting the Anchor portion subscribed. This is the first time that Anchor portion was provided for and subscribed in any SME IPO. The figures show the increasing confidence being placed by the investors in the SMEs and their growth story.
Anchor investors are institutional investors who are offered shares in an IPO a day before the offer opens. As the name suggests, they are supposed to anchor the issues by agreeing to subscribe to shares at a fixed price so that other investors may know that there is demand for the shares offered. Each anchor investor has to put a minimum of Rs10 crore in the issue.
