India's Schloss, Aegis Vopak IPOs fully sold on final day, retail demand subdued
May 28 (Reuters) - Indian initial public offerings of Leela hotels-owner Schloss Bangalore SCHL.NS and Aegis Vopak Terminals AEGI.NS were oversubscribed on Wednesday, hauled across the line by institutional buyers as retail demand floundered.
India's IPO market is still finding its legs after a slow start to the year, following blockbuster listings from companies such as Swiggy (SWIG.NS), opens new tab and NTPC Green (NTPG.NS), opens new tab in 2024.
India's blue-chip Nifty 50 (.NSEI), opens new tab index is up nearly 5% this year but is still more than 5% below record-high levels logged in September 2024, amid uncertainties around global tariffs and worries about their impact to trade.
Proceeds from IPOs are down 29% on-year so far this year, while number of issues have dropped 38%, data from LSEG showed. IPO hopefuls, such as LG Electronics India, have either delayed plans or downsized their issue sizes.
Schloss issued fresh shares and existing investor Brookfield sold some of its stake in the $409 million IPO. Aegis, a JV of Dutch tank storage group Vopak (VOPA.AS), opens new tab, only issued new shares in its $328 million offering.
Retail investors, who typically look to pocket listing gains, bid for just 83% of their reserved portion in Schloss' books, while Aegis drew just 77%.
Institutional buyers, including foreign investors and banks, bid for over seven times the shares allotted for them in Schloss, and over three times their portion in Aegis.
"Retail investors and high-net worth individuals recorded lacklustre enthusiasm as they found valuations to be too demanding, especially when markets have still not completely settled and global uncertainty fears loom," said Astha Jain, a research analyst with Hem Securities.
Schloss is targeting a valuation of about $1.7 billion, while Aegis Vopak is aiming one at $3.05 billion. Both the firms are slated to start trading on Indian stock exchanges on June 2.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
20 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Hegseth sounds alarm on China's 'imminent' Taiwan invasion
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a chilling warning on the China threat during a defense summit in Singapore. He said on Saturday that the threat from China was potentially imminent as he pushed allies in the Indo-Pacific to spend more on their own defense. Hegseth, speaking for the first time at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Asia 's forum for defense leaders, militaries and diplomats, underlined that the Indo-Pacific region was a priority for the Trump administration. 'There's no reason to sugar coat it. The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent' Hegseth said, in some of his strongest comments on the Communist nation since he took office in January. He added that any attempt by China to conquer Taiwan 'would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world,' and echoed Trump's comment that China will not invade Taiwan on the president's watch. China views Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to 'reunify' with the democratic and separately governed island, by force if necessary. It has stepped up military and political pressure to assert those claims, including increasing the intensity of war games around Taiwan. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing 's sovereignty claims, saying only the island's people can decide their future. 'It has to be clear to all that Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo Pacific,' Hegseth said. His comments on allies needing to increase spending is likely to cause anxiety amongst partners, even though experts said Hegseth would face a relatively friendly audience in Singapore. China's Defense Minister Dong Jun skipped the major Asian security forum and Beijing has sent only an academic delegation. Hegseth has previously taken aim at allies in Europe for not spending more on their own defense. In February, he warned Europe against treating America like a 'sucker' while addressing a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels. On Friday, while delivering the keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue, French President Emmanuel Macron said Hegseth was justified in asking Europe to increase its own defense spending. 'It's hard to believe, a little bit, after some trips to Europe that I'm saying this, but thanks to President Trump, Asian allies should look to countries in Europe as a new found example,' Hegseth said. 'NATO members are pledging to spend 5 percent of their GDP on defense, even Germany. So it doesn't make sense for countries in Europe to do that while key allies in Asia spend less on defense in the face of an even more formidable threat, not to mention North Korea.' Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, who is co-leading a bi-partisan delegation to the Shangri-la Dialogue, said it was noteworthy that Hegseth emphasized that the United States was committed to the region, but his language on allies was not helpful. 'I thought it was patronizing of our friends in the Indo-Pacific in particular,' Duckworth said. Spending on weapons and research is spiking among some Asian countries as they respond to a darkening security outlook by broadening their outside industrial partnerships while trying to boost their own defense industries, according to a new study by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, the organization that runs the Shangri-La Dialogue. The spike comes even as Asian nations spent an average of 1.5 percent of GDP on defense in 2024, a figure that has kept relatively constant over the last decade, it said. Hegseth suggested that allies in Europe focus on security on the European continent, so that Washington could focus on the threat posed by China in the Indo-Pacific, alongside more participation by allies in Asia. 'We would much prefer that the overwhelming balance of European investment be on that continent, so that as we partner there, which we will continue to do, we're able to use our comparative advantage as an Indo-Pacific nation to support our partners here,' he said in response to a question after his speech. But some of the Trump administration's early moves in the Indo-Pacific have raised eyebrows. The U.S. moved air defense systems from Asia to the Middle East earlier this year as tensions with Iran spiked - an effort that took 73 C-17 flights. Hegseth, a former Fox TV host who has spent much of his first months in office focused on domestic issues, spoke to the international audience on topics that he has frequently talked about when in the United States, like 'restoring the warrior ethos.' 'We are not here to pressure other countries to embrace or adopt our politics or ideology. We are not here to preach to you about climate change or cultural issues,' Hegseth said. 'We respect you, your traditions and your militaries. And we want to work with you where our shared interests align.'
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Pete Hegseth calls on Asia to boost military spending in face of ‘imminent' threat from China
The US secretary of defence has called on Asian countries to boost their military spending to increase regional deterrence against China, which was 'rehearsing for the real deal' when it comes to taking over Taiwan. Pete Hegseth, addressing the Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday, reiterated pledges to increase the US presence in the Indo-Pacific and outlined a range of new joint projects, including expanding access to military ship and plane repair, including in Australia. 'US allies in the Indo-Pacific can and should upgrade their own defences,' Hegseth said. 'It has to be clear to all that Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific … There's no reason to sugar coat it. The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent.' He said Donald Trump's administration had pushed European countries to boost their defensive spending, taking on a greater 'burden' of responding to conflicts in their region, and it was time for Asian nations to do the same. Hegseth, who in March was revealed to have told a Signal group chat that Europe was 'pathetic' and 'freeloading' on US security support in the region, told the Singapore conference it was 'hard to believe' he was now saying this, but Asian countries should 'look to allies in Europe as a newfound example'. 'Deterrence doesn't come on the cheap … time is of the essence.' He said the renewed European focus on their region – particularly the Russia-Ukraine war – allowed the US to shift focus to its 'priority theatre' in the Indo-Pacific. Hegseth said the US did not seek to 'pressure' Asian countries to 'embrace or adopt policies or ideologies', but instead wanted to 'work with you where our shared interests align for peace and prosperity'. 'We're not here to preach to you about climate change or cultural issues,' he said. 'But a threat gathers. 'We do not seek conflict with Communist China. We will not seek to instigate, subjugate or humiliate China. President Trump and US have an immense respect for China and their civilisation. But we will not be pushed out of this critical region.' In his speech Hegseth also took a swipe at the absence of any senior Chinese delegate at this year's conference. 'We are here this morning and, notably, someone else isn't,' he said. Hegseth also appeared to reference comments by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, at the conference on Friday that a 'sense that [the US's] promise might not be so ironclad is ushering in a new instability'. 'An alliance cannot be ironclad if in reality or perception it is one-sided,' Hegseth said on Saturday. 'As allies share the burden we can increase our focus on the Indo-Pacific, our priority theatre.' He said the US would conduct its 'first-ever live-fire test of its mid-range capability system in Australia' in coming months, and had expanded cooperations and joint exercises. It would also establish repair capability and capacity programs in the region, including for P-8 radar systems in Australia for the US and its allies, while expanding contracts for regional ship repair. Hegseth's speech reiterated much of the Trump administration's defence and security position – blaming the previous administration for problems, pledging to strengthen the US military and secure the US border against unregulated immigration, while repeating plans to 'take back the Panama canal'. He said Trump was spending $1tn – a 13% increase – on defence next year, citing advance weapons plans including the controversial Golden Dome. Speaking in Singapore after Hegseth's address, US Democratic senator Tammy Duckworth told reporters that his comments about the US remaining in the Indo-Pacific region were welcome but he found his words 'patronising of our friends in the Indo-Pacific in particular'. 'I've gotta say his idea that we're going to wrap ourselves around you – we don't need that kind of language. We just need to stand together,' Duckworth said. 'The US is not asking people to choose between the US and [China] … But we will make sure international norms are maintained and ask our friends to help us uphold them.'
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
China urges halt to auto industry's bruising price wars
SHANGHAI, May 31 (Reuters) - China called on Saturday for its automotive industry to halt brutal price wars, as a threat to the sector's health and sustainable development, after key executives jousted over pricing pressure following large discounts offered to buyers. Tension between some top players in the world's largest auto market has spilled into the open as competition intensifies, with price wars begun in early 2023 showing little sign of abating, despite concern among both government and industry. The industry ministry vowed to step up efforts to correct what it called excessive competition, the official news agency Xinhua said on Saturday. "There are no winners in a 'price war', let alone a future," the agency cited an unidentified ministry official as saying. The comments came after fresh incentives offered last week on more than 20 models by electric vehicle giant BYD ( opens new tab, that prompted several rivals, such as Geely ( opens new tab and Chery ( to follow suit. The ministry's comments echo a similar call, also on Saturday, by the China Association of Auto Manufacturers (CAAM) for a truce in the price wars, saying they affect profitability and efficiency. It added that a new round of price war "panic" was touched off in China after substantial discounts offered on May 23 by an automaker it did not identify. It proposed remedies such as auto companies sticking to the principle of fair competition and larger players refraining from market monopolies. "Apart from reducing the price of goods according to law, enterprises shall not dump goods at prices below cost," it added. BYD's incentives, which include government trade-in subsidies, can cut the domestic cost of its BYD Seagull electric hatchback to as little as 55,800 yuan ($7,750). On Friday, a BYD executive had decried as alarmist comments by the chief of Great Wall Motor that the industry was "unhealthy". Great Wall's ( opens new tab Wei Jianjun had said pricing pressure was hammering the bottom lines of car companies and suppliers. ($1=7.1991 Chinese yuan renminbi)
