On Wednesday, shares of FSN E-Commerce Ventures, owning beauty retailer Nykaa, slumped more than 8% just after the one-year lock-up period on pre-Initial Public Offering (IPO) investors finished.
Its stock ended at Rs 1,040 and was down 8% over its previous day’s close. Its shares were trading 3% down throughout most part of the day but dropped just minutes before trade closed, perhaps on the back of a large sell order.
The pattern reflected the trend seen in Zomato shares, the first major start-up to list on domestic bourses, and could be a forerunner of expectations in other start-ups. In July, the restaurant aggregator shares and food delivery start-up had tanked more than 10% on the day when the one-year lock-up had ended. Within weeks, pre-IPO investors like Uber, Tiger Global, and Moore Strategic Ventures rode their holdings in Zomato.
The lock-up period for PB Fintech (PolicyBazaar) will end on November 11, One97 Communications (Paytm) also on 11th November, and Delhivery on November 20. In the run-up to the end of the lock-up period, wherein the freeze on shares valued at Rs 1 trillion will be eased, the stock prices of these four companies witnessed huge drawdowns.
Nykaa shares are down 60% from their record high of Rs 2,574, whereas they are down 8% over their IPO price of Rs 1,125. Shares of PolicyBazaar, Paytm, and Delhivery is also down between 45% and 70% from their highs.
Nykaa has proclaimed a five-for-one bonus issue. The ex-date for bonus shares is Thursday, and the stock trades at the fifth of its current price as investors holding one share will get five shares.