PhysicsWallah IPO gets last-day lift as bids climb to 1.8x

PhysicsWallah’s initial public offering (IPO) drew a much stronger response on the final day of bidding on November 13, reversing the subdued mood of the first two days. 

By late afternoon on Thursday, the issue was subscribed about 1.8 times, helped by qualified institutional buyers (QIB) who finally entered the book after holding back earlier in the week.

On the final day, the QIB portion saw bids amounting to around 2.7 times its quota, while the retail investor segment achieved little over full subscription. The employee reserved category was oversubscribed by nearly 3.5 times. The strong oversubscription in the employee category signals internal confidence in the company’s prospects and can be interpreted as an encouraging indicator. 

In contrast, the non-institutional investor (NII) segment remained the weakest, with subscriptions at 48%.

By comparison, the IPO’s earlier days had been sluggish. On day 1 (November 11), the issue was subscribed only about 7% overall. On day 2 (November 12), the cumulative subscription rose to approximately 13%, with retail investors showing some interest (58% of their category), but institutional and NII participation was scant.

PhysicsWallah (PW) had offered nearly 18.62 crore shares as part of a public issue seeking to raise approximately Rs 3,480 crore through the IPO, consisting of a fresh issue worth Rs 3,100 crore and an offer for sale of Rs 380 crore by co-founders Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari. 

The price band has been fixed at Rs 103 to Rs 109 per share, valuing the company at over Rs 31,500 crore at the upper end. The grey market premium (GMP) currently quotes around Rs 1-2 per share over the upper band.

The day-three pickup was a sign that institutional buyers, having watched the first two days of weak momentum, finally committed. 

A day before the offer opened, the company raised Rs 1,563 crore through the anchor investor segment, allocating 14.34 crore shares at Rs 109 per share. More than half of this allocation was taken up by domestic mutual funds, indicating early institutional confidence at that stage.

PW’s IPO allotment is expected to be finalised on November 14, with listing scheduled for November 18. Investors will now turn their attention to the listing price and initial trading performance, which may offer a final verdict on the market’s appetite for the company’s story.

Founded in 2016 by Pandey as a YouTube-based learning channel, PW has grown into a large-scale education platform, with a mix of digital courses, physical learning centres, and hybrid programmes. Its core audience remains students in Tier II and III cities preparing for engineering, medical, and government entrance exams.