Indian restaurant chain Barbeque-Nation falls in debut trade (updated)

Indigo Paints

07/04/2021 06:56

(Adds details on IPO, background)
    BENGALURU, April 7 (Reuters) - Shares of Barbeque-Nation
Hospitality  BARQ.NS  fell 2% in their market debut on
Wednesday, after the casual dining restaurant chain raised about
4.53 billion rupees ($61.62 million) through an initial public
offering (IPO).
    The trading debut comes as a resurgence in coronavirus
infections in India threatens to derail a nascent recovery in
business for restaurants, malls and movie theaters.
    Shares of Barbeque-Nation opened at 489.85 rupees, below the
offer price of 500 rupees. Stock recovered to trade up 17.6%, as
of 0507 GMT, after dropping as much as 3.6% in early session.   
 
    While the offering was oversubscribed about six times last
month, it pales in comparison with the interest generated by
some other listings this year including paint maker Indigo
Paints Ltd  INDG.NS , which was 50 times oversubscribed, and
engineering firm MTAR Technologies Ltd  MTAR.NS , which was
oversubscribed more than 100 times.    
    Barbeque-Nation had posted a net loss of 987.2 million
rupees for the eight months ended November 2020, and an annual
loss of 323.9 million for the year ended March 2020. 
    The restaurant chain, which has 138 outlets in India,
offered a fresh issue of 1.8 billion rupees and a sale offer of
up to 5.5 million shares.
    Fundraising via IPOs is at a 13-year high in India due to a
flood of overseas investments and as unusual interest from
mom-and-pop investors spur more listings, making India one of
the hottest IPO markets in 2021.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2LO119
    The Bengaluru-headquartered company competes with listed
peers such as Speciality Restaurants  SPRE.NS  in the dining
segment, while some of its quick-servicing rivals are Westlife
Development  WEST.NS , Jubilant Foodworks  JUBI.NS  and Burger
King India Ltd  BURG.NS .

    ($1 = 73.5170 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Chandini Monnappa, Anuron Kumar Mitra and Rama
Venkat in Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
 ((Chandini.M@thomsonreuters.com ; +918061822697))