Sebi plans smoother IPO listings, rationalise offer documents

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) plans to reduce the contents of the offer document summary and streamline the listing process for those that have pledged their stock before the initial share sales.

“For IPO-bound companies, the existing contents of the offer document summary will be further rationalised,” Sebi chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said at an event Thursday.

“This summary will also be made available separately to investors from the offer document to encourage informed feedback from them,” he said.

The regulator is also considering a proposal to streamline the process for IPO bound companies whose pre-IPO shares are pledged.
“The proposed framework will ensure that blocking requirements are automatically enforced even if pledge is invoked or released, thereby preventing listing de-lays,” Pandey said.

Sebi will be coming out with consultation papers for these proposals soon.

In another event, the Sebi chief said the regulator does not participate in determining IPO valuations. “We don’t determine what the valuation is, it’s in the eyes of the beholder, the investor. We cannot intervene in the market in such a way that we are in the old sy-stem, the controller of capital issues,” Pandey told reporters at the sidelines of an event.

“The share price will be decided by the market depending upon the opportunities. Our focus is on information and disclosure,” he said.
His comments come days after concerns were raised about Lenskart’s IPO pricing. Lenskart has been valued at ₹70,000 crore — or, at the upper end of the price band.