Shares of Campus Activewear, the country’s largest sports and athleisure footwear brand, made a strong debut on the Dalal Street on May 9, with stock price listing at a premium of over 23% as investors piled into the first IPO of the financial year 2022-23. The rally in the footwear stock was in sharp contrast to the weak broader market trend, with the Sensex and the Nifty closing 0.7% lower.

Campus Activewear shares, which admitted to dealings in the list of ''B'' group securities, ended its first day with a market capitalistion of ₹11,521.78 crore, driven by strong volume as 34.99 lakh shares worth ₹129.96 crore changing hands on the counter on the BSE. With this, Campus Activewear joined the league of footwear companies listed on the domestic exchange such as Bata India, Relaxo Footwears, Liberty Shoes, Khadim India, Metro Brands, and Mirza International.

The footwear company, that garnered strong response for its ₹1,400 crore initial public offering (IPO), saw its shares listing at ₹360 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), up 23.29% or ₹68 from the upper end of IPO price band of ₹278-₹292 per share. On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Campus Activewear stock opened trading at ₹355, 21.58% higher than the issue price of ₹292. In contrast, the BSE benchmark Sensex opened 647 points lower at 54,188 levels, and the NSE Nifty dropped 183 points to 16,227 in opening deals.

Post listing, Campus Activewear shares moved further higher and touched an intraday high of ₹417.70 on the BSE, up 43% from the issue price, on the back of the strong volume. Similarly, it hit an intraday high of ₹418 on the NSE. Finally, the stock settled 29.66% higher at ₹378.60 on the BSE, as compared to 365 points fall in the benchmark index Sensex, which closed at 54,470 levels.

₹1,400-cr IPO garners strong response from investors

The IPO of the Delhi-based footwear firm, which opened for subscription from April 26-28, received robust demand from investors, especially from qualified institutional buyers. The company’s IPO, the first of fiscal 2022-23, was subscribed more than 51 times as it received bids for 1,74,02,02,110 equity shares, or 51.75 times, as against the issue size of 3,36,25,000 shares. The qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) category received 152.04 times subscription, while non-institutional and retail investors’ portions were booked 22.25 times and 7.68 times, respectively. The offer, priced at ₹278 to ₹292 apiece, was issued in a lot size of 51 shares.

The issue was completely an offer-for-sale (OFS) by existing promoters and shareholders, which meant the proceeds from the IPO would go to the stakeholders. Promoters Hari Krishan Agarwal and Nikhil Agarwal, and other investors like TPG Growth III SF Pte Ltd, Rajiv Goel, and Rajesh Kumar Gupta sold their stake in the OFS.

Ahead of the IPO, the company raised ₹418.29 crore from its anchor investors by issuing them 14,325,000 equity shares at ₹292 each. The marquee investors which participated in the pre-IPO round include Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Fidelity Funds, Nomura, Societe Generale, BNP Paribas Arbitrage, and Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte.

Launched in 2015, Campus holds a 17% share of the branded sports and athleisure footwear retail market in India by value as of FY21. In the first nine-month of financial year 2021-22 (FY22), the company garnered ₹400 crore from online sales, accounting for 37% of total sales of ₹1,118 crore. The company, which generates nearly 50% sales from the north followed by east and west, aims to expand its presence in southern regions of India. Going forward, the company plans to focus on premiumisation across product segments with enhanced focus on women, children and kids.

Follow us on Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp to never miss an update from Fortune India. To buy a copy, visit Amazon.