The anchor book
IPO-bound Paras Healthcare raised ₹652.5 crore from anchor investors on October 19, a day before its maiden public issue opened for subscription on October 21, the company said in an exchange filing.
The company allotted 94,15,584 equity shares at ₹693 apiece to 39 funds. Marquee global names included the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, BlackRock Global Funds, Eastspring Investments, Government Pension Fund Global, Natixis International Funds, Integrated Core Strategies (Asia) and Citigroup Global. Nine domestic mutual funds — including SBI Mutual Fund, HDFC AMC, ICICI Prudential AMC, Kotak Mahindra AMC and WhiteOak Capital — picked up 55.55 lakh shares worth ₹385 crore across 24 schemes, while three insurers took 6.49 lakh shares worth ₹45 crore.
The IPO
The IPO, which closes on October 23, is priced in a band of ₹660–693 per share and aims to raise ₹1,450 crore — a ₹500 crore fresh issue plus a ₹950 crore offer for sale, in which promoter Dharminder Kumar Nagar will sell shares worth ₹300 crore and Creador-affiliate Commelina will offload ₹650 crore. The fresh-issue proceeds will be used to repay debt.
Paras Healthcare operates eight hospitals under the Paras Health brand with a combined 2,211 beds across North India, Bihar and Jharkhand, and plans a 300-bed hospital in Gurugram and a 500-bed facility in Ludhiana. Startup funding in India has rarely seen this much institutional appetite for a hospital chain — the anchor book signals strong confidence in healthcare services as a listed asset class. Listing is expected on October 28.
Why it matters for founders
An anchor book dominated by sovereign funds and global asset managers de-risks the retail subscription that follows. For founders eyeing IPOs, the lesson is that anchor allocation is won months before the filing — relationships with long-only institutions are built in private rounds, not on roadshow week.