The IPO roulette has more spinners and fewer winners, what's your fate?

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Retail investors have taken initial public offerings (IPOs) by storm, leading to a record surge in activity and reshaping the landscape of both mainboard and SME offerings.

A Mint analysis of data sourced from primedatabase.com showed that over five years, around 45.5% of IPOs across both the mainboard and SME segments have been oversubscribed by more than 10 times in the retail segment. The share of mainboard IPOs that saw such response jumped from around 38% in 2019 to 58.2% this year so far, while for SMEs the share saw a massive jump from 27% in 2021 to 97% year-to-date.

In 2024 in particular, retail investors' unprecedented participation has led to massive oversubscriptions across IPOs, especially those of small and medium-sized enterprises. The recent offering of Bajaj Housing Finance, which drew 5.9 million retail applications (this year's highest so far), underscores the incredible investor enthusiasm that has ignited the primary market.

Retail investor interest in IPOs reached new heights in 2024, with an average 1.56 million applications for mainboard IPOs and 0.18 million for SME IPOs in the year so far compared to 1.32 million and only 78,450 applications on average in the previous year for the respective category. The top five mainboard IPOs of 2024 by retail participation included Bajaj Housing Finance with 5.9 million applications, Premier Energies (3.5 million), BLS E-Services (3 million), Gala Precision Engineering (2.99 million), and Exicom Tele-Systems (2.78 million),according to data from primedatabase.com.

The mega response is also visible in the significant value of shares applied for by retail investors as a percentage of total IPO mobilization. For mainboard