Number fully recorded on the first day

In the Unicommerce public offering, a total of 3,42,62,364 (3.42 Cr) shares were submitted as against the offer of 1,40,84,681 (1.4 Cr) shares

While retail investors oversubscribed by 9.98X, NIIs bid for 86.87 lakh shares as against 38.41 lakh shares reserved for them

The startup aims to raise INR 276.5 Cr through this IPO at the upper end of the price range

SaaS Startup Initial Public Offering (IPO) Unicommerce It was met with a strong response from investors on the first day of bidding, with full subscriptions reaching 2.43%.

In the public offer, a total of 3,42,62,364 (3.42 Cr) shares were bid against the offer for 1,40,84,681 (1.4 Cr) shares.

Across all segments, the bulk of the subscriptions came from individual retail investors who bid for 2.55 Cr shares against the 25.6 Lakh shares reserved for them. This resulted in an oversubscription of 9.98X.

RII was closely followed by offers for non-institutional investors (NIIS) with 2.26 times oversubscription. NIIS received bids for 86.87 lakh shares as against 38.41 lakh shares on offer.

Meanwhile, the portion reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) saw the lukewarm response with only 21.25 lakh shares subscribed as against the offer of 76.82 lakh reserved shares.

It is worth noting that Unicommerce has raised INR 124.4 Cr from 14 anchor investors before the IPO opens today.

After the IPO subscription, Unicommerce shares will be listed on the BSE and NSE stock exchanges. The startup intends to acquire 276.5 million Indian rupees through this public offer at the upper end of the price band. The price band has been fixed at INR 102-108 per equity share.

The IPO consisted of only an offer for sale of 2.56 Cr shares. Under the OFS, AceVector Ltd (formerly Snapdeal) and SoftBank will sell up to 94.38 Lakh equity shares and up to 1.61 Cr equity shares, respectively.

Founded in 2012, Unicommerce is an e-commerce SaaS startup that helps businesses manage inventory across all online marketplaces. In its RHP, the startup also claimed to be the largest e-commerce SaaS platform for transaction processing in terms of revenue in FY21, FY22, and FY23. Increff, Vinculum, Browntape, and Easyecom are the other players it competes with.

The startup’s move to the public market comes at a time when its financial health is becoming healthier. In the 2023-24 financial year (FY24), Unicommerce net profit more than doubled to INR 13.1 Cr from INR 6.5 Cr reported in the previous year.

The company’s operating income grew by 15% to INR 103.58 Cr in FY20 as compared to INR 90.06 Cr in FY23. During the same time, the company’s total expenses grew by over 9% to INR 91.9 Cr in FY24 from INR 84.1 Cr in the previous fiscal.

Brokerage houses BP Wealth has given a subscription rating to the issue. The reason given is: “At the high end of the price spectrum, the issue is trading at a P/E of 93.1x based on FY24 earnings. While the issue looks rich in terms of valuation, we believe the company’s strong business performance along with favourable industry tailwinds provide an opportunity over the medium to long term.”

Highlighting its IPO prospects, another stockbroker Swastika added, “While Unicommerce benefits from a strong market position and upselling/cross-selling opportunities, it faces competitive pressures, negative cash flows and operational dependency on third-party service providers. Moreover, the company’s business is subject to seasonal fluctuations.”

Considering these factors, Swastik recommends a cautious approach and suggests that only informed investors are considering this public offering due to the potential profits from the listing.