PhysicsWallah IPO sails through on final day; issue subscribed 1.8x on institutional demand

After receiving tepid responses from investors in the first two days of bidding, the ₹3,480-crore initial public offering (IPO) of PhysicsWallah picked up pace on the final day, sailing through to full subscription. The issue, which drew a lukewarm response in the first two days — 0.08 times on Day 1 and 0.14 times on Day 2 — saw a surge in bids from institutional investors on Thursday, taking the overall subscription to 1.8 times. The strong finish was led by qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), who showed keen interest in the edtech firm’s market debut.

The issue, which comprised a fresh issue of ₹3,100 crore and an offer for sale of ₹380 crore, attracted bids for 33.62 crore shares against the 18.62 crore shares on offer, according to exchange data.

The QIB portion led the show, subscribing 2.7 times, with strong interest from mutual funds (bidding for 16.03 crore shares) and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) (8.63 crore shares). The employee quota was also well received, subscribed 3.49 times, while the retail portion saw a modest oversubscription of 1.06 times.

In contrast, non-institutional investors (NIIs) showed limited appetite, bidding for only 0.48 times their allotted quota.

The edtech unicorn, co-founded by Alakh Pandey and Prateek Boob, had reserved 75% of the IPO for QIBs, 15% for NIIs, and the remaining 10% for retail investors.

The IPO, which opened on November 11 and closed on November 13, was priced in the band of ₹103–₹109 per share, with a ₹10 per share discount for employees.

The company, known for its test preparation programs for JEE, NEET, GATE, and UPSC, plans to deploy the IPO proceeds from fresh equities for expanding PhysicsWallah’s offline learning network, enhance content and technology platforms, and for general corporate purposes.

It has proposed to invest ₹460.55 crore in capital expenditure for new offline and hybrid centers and ₹548.31 crore towards lease payments for existing centers.

Another ₹710 crore will be used for marketing initiatives, and ₹200.11 crore for server and cloud infrastructure. A portion of the proceeds will also be invested in subsidiaries such as Utkarsh Classes & Edutech Pvt. Ltd. and used to fund inorganic growth through acquisitions.

Ahead of the IPO, PhysicsWallah raised ₹1,562.85 crore from 57 anchor investors by allotting 14.33 crore equity shares at ₹109 apiece, which saw participation from domestic as well as foreign institutional investors. The anchor book received bids worth nearly ₹20,000 crore at the upper end of the price band at ₹109 apiece, translating into a 13-times oversubscription.

The allotment of PhysicsWallah shares will be finalised on November 14, 2025, while the stock is expected to debut on the BSE and NSE on November 18, 2025. The grey market premium (GMP) for PhysicsWallah shares has dropped to zero in the unlisted market, indicating a flat listing for the edtech unicorn on the domestic bourses.

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