Indian skincare firm Mamaearth's IPO oversubscribed 7.6 times

BENGALURU, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Indian skincare startup Mamaearths initial public offering (IPO) was oversubscribed by 7.6 times, fetching bids worth 71.3 billion rupees ($856.75 million), exchange data showed on Thursday.

Investors bid for more than 220 million shares, compared with the 28.9 million shares on offer, with institutional investors showing the most interest, the data showed.

Mamaearth, founded by former Hindustan Unilever (HLL.NS) executive Varun Alagh and his wife Ghazal in 2016, revisited its IPO plans last month, with a reduced offer size. It had put its IPO plan on hold in March blaming weak market conditions.

The IPO comprises of fresh issue of shares worth 3.65 billion rupees, while investors including the co-founders, Stellaris Venture Partners and Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty are selling 41.2 million shares, according to its prospectus.

The company, which is registered as Honasa Consumer, has set a price band of 308-324 rupees per share. At the top end, the investors shares sales would fetch 13.36 billion rupees.

In September, the IPOs of Sai Silks (SAIS.NS), Samhi Hotels (SAMH.NS) and R R Kabel (RRKA.NS) were oversubscribed by 4-18 times. Like Mamaearths, these IPOs too were a mix of stock sales by the company and its stakeholders.

Mamaearths competitors include Sugar and Health & Glow in Indias beauty and personal care industry whose market size is estimated to expand to $28 billion by 2025 from $17.8 billion in 2020, according to KKR-backed financial services firm Avendus.

Honasa Consumer posted a consolidated net profit of 259.6 million rupees for the April-June quarter, compared with a loss of nearly 93 million rupees a year ago. Its revenue jumped about 49% in that period.

The company is expected to list on the stock exchanges on Tuesday.

Kotak Mahindra Capital, Citigroup Global Markets India and J.P. Morgan India were among the lead managers to the IPO.

($1 = 83.2217 Indian rupees)