Nexus Select Trust REIT rose nearly 4% in its stock market debut on Friday, giving the Blackstone-backed retail real estate investment trust a valuation of almost Rs 15,764 crore ($1.9 billion).
The REIT, better known as Nexus Malls, began trading at Rs 102.27 per unit and then rose to Rs 104 apiece, compared to the initial public offering (IPO) price of Rs 100 per unit.
The IPO of 185.26 million units, excluding anchor allotment, was subscribed 5.45 times as it got bids for 1.01 billion units, stock exchange data showed. The IPO opened for subscription on May 9 and closed May 11.
Nexus Malls, owned by private equity giant Blackstone, is the first retail REIT in India to float an IPO. The share sale came at a time when market volatility and macroeconomic concerns have prompted several companies to either delay or tweak their listing plans in India.
Blackstone previously took two other REITs public in India. Embassy Office Parks REIT has a market valuation of Rs 28,903 crore while Mindspace Business Parks REIT has a capitalization of about Rs 19,140 crore. The PE giant still has ownership interest in Embassy but it exited Mindspace last year.
The Nexus REIT's IPO is the second-biggest in India this year. It trails the share sale of drugmaker Mankind Pharma, which raised Rs 4,326 crore.
Nexus Malls raised a total of Rs 3,200 crore (about $390 million) from the share sale. This comprised a fresh issue of Rs 1,400 crore and an offer of sale by Blackstone of Rs 1,800 crore.
Ahead of the IPO, the REIT sold almost 144 million units to anchor investors at Rs 100 per unit. The anchor investors included Tata Investment Corp, HDFC and ICICI mutual funds as well as HDFC Life Insurance, SBI Life Insurance, Star Health and SBI General Insurance.
Nexus Malls owns and operates 17 commercial properties across 13 cities. Last month, iPhone maker Apple Inc opened its second fully-owned store in the country in a Nexus-owned shopping mall in New Delhi.
Axis Capital, IIFL Securities and BofA Securities India were among the bankers that managed the IPO.
