Anthem Biosciences lists at 27% premium: Sell shares or hold?
What's the story
Anthem Biosciences, a leading contract research and manufacturing organization (CRDMO), made a strong debut on the Indian stock market today. The company's shares were listed at ₹723.05 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), reflecting a premium of 26.85% over its initial public offering (IPO) price of ₹570. On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), shares opened slightly higher at ₹723.10, marking an increase of 26.86% from the issue price. So, should you sell the shares or hold? Let's see.
IPO details
It was open for subscription from July 14-16
The ₹3,395.79 crore IPO of Anthem Biosciences was open for subscription from July 14 to July 16. The offering received an overwhelming response from investors, with bids for 281.49 crore stocks against the 4.17 crore shares on offer. The retail investor category was subscribed 5.98 times, while the non-institutional investor (NII) segment witnessed a subscription of 44.70 times during this period.
Market response
QIB portion was subscribed 192.80 times
The Qualified Institutional Buyer (QIB) portion of the IPO witnessed the highest demand at 192.80 times. The employee quota was also booked 6.99 times during this period. Ahead of its public offering, Anthem Biosciences had raised ₹1,016 crore from anchor investors. JM Financial Limited was the book-running lead manager for the issue while Kfin Technologies served as its registrar.
Offer
IPO had no fresh issue, only OFS
The IPO of Anthem Biosciences was entirely an offer for sale of 5.96 crore shares with no fresh issue. The lot size for the IPO was fixed at 26 shares, with a minimum investment for the retail investors set at ₹14,040. The issue also included a reservation of up to 1,58,653 stocks for employees offered at a discount of ₹50 to the issue price.
Stats
Financials and business model
Founded in 2006, Anthem Biosciences is a technology-led CRDMO providing end-to-end services across drug discovery, development, and manufacturing. The company serves a wide range of global customers from emerging biotech start-ups to large pharmaceutical companies. In FY2024-25, Anthem Biosciences reported a 30% YoY increase in its revenue from operations to ₹1,844 crore from ₹1,419 crore in FY24. Its profit after tax stood at ₹451 crore for the year ending March 31, 2025—23% higher than last year.