The agrochemical company Dharmaj Crop Guard received bids for 1.38 crore shares in its IPO on November 28 (the first day of bidding), with an issue size of 80.12 lakh shares and a subscription rate of 1.73 times.

Retail investors were at the forefront, bidding 2.54 times their allotted shares. Employees bid 1.76 times for 55,000 reserved shares. They will get the final offer at a discount of Rs 10 per share.

Qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) bid for 35% of the 22.43 lakh shares allotted to them, while non-institutional investors (NIIS) bid 1.65 times the 17.14 lakh shares allotted to them.

Half of the offer has been reserved for QIBs, 15% for high-net-worth individuals (non-institutional investors), and the remaining 35% for retail investors.

The company has reduced the size of its issue from 1.05 crore shares to 80.12 lakh shares after receiving Rs 75 crore from the main book on November 25.

Dharmaj Crop is targeting to raise Rs 251.15 crore in the IPO, comprising Rs 216 crore in new issues and Rs 35.15 crore in offers from promoters. It is 100% owned by the promoters, whose stake will drop to around 73% after the offering.

The price range for the offer is Rs 216-237 per share, while the anchor book subscribed at the higher price range. Gujarat-based Dharmaj Crop manufactures, distributes and markets various agrochemical formulations such as insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, plant growth regulators, micro fertilisers and antibiotics primarily to B2C and B2B clients.