DRHP filings surge to 118 in H1 2025 amid strong valuation appetite

Business Standard

5 days ago

The filing of draft red herring prospectuses (DRHPs) picked up pace during the first half of 2025, reflecting continued optimism among promoters to list, thanks to the attractive valuations on offer.
In the first half of 2025, 118 firms filed their offer documents, compared to 52 during the same period in 2024. The cumulative amount companies are seeking to raise via these filings is Rs 1.6 trillion, up from Rs 1 trillion in H1 2024.
Among the marquee companies filing offer documents this year are Groww, Pine Labs, Waterways Leisure Tourism (which operates Cordelia Cruises), Lalitha Jewellery Mart, Canara Robeco Asset Management and Physicswallah. Several companies have also taken the confidential filing route for IPOs—a newly introduced mechanism that allows them to keep DRHPs private until plans are finalised.
The DRHP is a preliminary document filed ahead of an IPO and contains key disclosures, including share offer size, financial statements and risk factors.
Experts say the strong pipeline of filings suggests large-scale issuances are likely in the second half of the year, provided market conditions remain supportive.
The IPO market was tepid in the first four months of 2025, with 10 companies raising Rs 18,704 crore, before activity picked up in May and June. March marked the first month in nearly two years without a single IPO, while April saw just one deal.
The sell-off in the secondary market that began in October 2024—driven by concerns over slowing corporate earnings and high valuations—contributed to the subdued IPO environment earlier this year.
However, companies continued to file offer documents even during months without IPO activity. Bankers noted that a public issue is typically an 18-month process, with DRHP preparation and Sebi approval taking up to six months, followed by a 12-month window to launch the deal. Given this timeline, issuers prefer to remain prepared for more stable market windows.
'FPI selling intensity had increased for a few months till March, and there were concerns around corporate earnings and Trump tariffs. Now that those concerns have receded and FPIs have become net buyers again, domestic flows remain strong, and companies are proceeding with their IPO plans. Moreover, public market valuations are very attractive,' said V Jayasankar, managing director, Kotak Investment Banking.
The remainder of the year is likely to be more robust than the first half, with momentum expected to continue in terms of issue launches and filings.
'With the sentiment now improving, I expect at least a similar number of DRHPs to be filed in the second half as well. An IPO is the eventual goal of most venture capital and private equity-backed startups. We will see several more new-age companies filing their DRHPs going forward. As per our data, there are at least 70 such startups that have announced their intent to go public but have not yet filed,' said Pranav Haldea, managing director, Prime Database.