Meesho closes up 53% after listing at 46% premium

STOCK PERFORMANCE

- NESIL STANEY

IT WAS A good day for companies making their stock market debut. Softbank-backed ecommerce major Meesho listed at a 46% premium - ₹161.20.

The stock, whose offer price was ₹111, rose 60% intra-day, before closing at ₹170.09, up 53%. The ₹5,421-crore IPO was subscribed 79 times.

Another debutant Aequs that focuses on high-precision components and assemblies for civil aviation listed at a 13% premium at ₹140 and closed with 21% gains over the IPO price of ₹124. Vidya Wires also made its debut, listed flat, but closed at ₹53.14, up 2%.

"Bharat has come to Dalal Street today. E-commerce in India used to be for big-city consumers. What we saw was a different reality. We saw Bharat," said co-founder and CEO Vidit Aatrey. "We are at Day-Zero today. We have not scratched the surface of the entire opportunity."

While shares closed at ₹170, up 54% from the IPO price, some analysts placed bullish bets on price hitting ₹200.