Happiest Minds cheers investors with a 124% jump on debut day

Mumbai: IT services company Happiest Minds Technologies made a strong debut on the bourses on Thursday, surging 124% over its initial public offer (IPO) price. This is the second-best listing in India in the past decade after IRCTC. The stock, which listed at ₹395, closed at ₹371 over its issue price of ₹166 apiece.

IRCTC shares had closed 127% higher than its issue price on the listing day, while Avenue Supermarts, the owner of supermarket chain DMart, had soared 114%.

Happiest Minds, promoted by Ashok Soota, had garnered strong response from investors in its IPO, which closed last Wednesday with a total subscription of 151 times. However, some in the market believe that it is better to wait for a correction to buy the stock than get into mid-cap frenzy.


“There is a frenzy to own stocks. We are at the cusp of a bull market and good stocks will be lapped up as left-out feeling is large,” said Sanjiv Bhasin, director, IIFL Securities.

“The management sounds optimistic that digital technology is here to stay. But I would not get in at 150% premium and would wait for correction and wait for more colour on way forward from the management after a quarter or so. At this price I would be in a TCS or Wipro rather than chase mid-cap frenzy,” said Bhasin.

Ahead of the IPO, brokerages such as Motilal Oswal and Prabhudas Lilladher had recommended subscribing to the issue.

“At the higher end of the price band, the issue is valued at 29x FY20 P/E (fully diluted), which is comparable to larger mid-sized IT companies. We like the company given its strong presence in digital services, scalable business model with end-to-end capabilities and fast improving financial performance,” said Motilal Oswal in its pre-IPO note.