After a strong run of QIPs, block deals and IPOs, Nomura’s investment banking arm expects public-market activity to remain robust through the rest of the year, while global buyout funds continue to explore opportunities to expand their footprint in India, the firm’s top executives said.
“Over the last couple of months, we have concluded several transactions across equity capital markets, and we expect a similar supply coming in the next few months,” Nomura’s India head of investment banking Amit Thawani told Mint in an interview.
Earlier this year, Nomura was among the advisors in Ather Energy’s $135 million QIP and Sterlite Technologies’ $158 million QIP. It was also involved in two block deals worth $272 million in Anthem Biosciences and Clean Max Energy’s $509 million pre-IPO and IPO processes.
It also priced Dhoot Transmissions’ $320 million public listing in August. Its other large public market transactions over the last year include HDB Financial Services ($1.5 billion), ICICI Prudential ($1.1 billion) and Afcons’ billion-dollar pre-IPO and IPO process.
Broadly, the value of QIPs and blocks is surpassing IPOs this year as several companies tap the public markets through smaller issue sizes.
“While IPO activity has picked up significantly in the last month, the story so far seems to indicate that public listings may not hit last year’s record levels," said Mahesh Natarajan, Nomura’s head of India equity capital markets (ECM). “The product split of the ECM market across block deals, IPOs and QIPs may vary this year but there is a high possibility that overall activity could approach 2025 levels.”
These investors are increasingly leveraging secondary or block deals as an exit or monetization option compared to an OFS in the IPO as the company scales post-listing and commands a better valuation, Natarajan noted.
Several private equity-owned companies are also tapping the public markets at a shorter time span after the initial investment.
“In such cases, the IPO is mainly executed to unlock the optionality of a listed company primarily with the intent of raising capital through the listing rather than an exit for the investor,” he said.
Between private and public markets, the firm is bullish around sectors such as financials, consumer, healthcare, enterprise tech, industrials and infrastructure.
“We are increasingly seeing more instances of family-owned businesses looking to tap private capital before going to the public markets. The playbook has become more enlarged as there is an evolution and a shift in mindset of promoters, especially in the industrials segment,” said Manish Agarwal, who heads the industrials and infrastructure verticals.
Beyond the core areas like auto, electronic manufacturing services and other ancillary segments, other areas such as defence, aerospace and semiconductors are also sunrise segments for the global investment bank.
“There is a real demand as strategics globally are looking at India as their base for sourcing and manufacturing,” Agarwal said.
Nomura is also ramping up its presence in the new economy segment—a vertical that focuses on established and fast-growing startups. “The new economy is no longer in their nascent stages. These are young businesses that have matured over time, grown fast and become sizeable,” Thawani explained.
“We are growing and deepening our presence in this vertical as the deals originating from these businesses have become more relevant for us now,” he said. Nomura's transactions in the new economy vertical include Wakefit’s $170 million pre-IPO and IPO deal, Ather’s $352 million IPO in 2025, and Kreditbee’s $280 million private fundraise earlier this year.
