The initial public offering (IPO) of Gopal Snacks saw a mixed response from the investors during the third and final day of the bidding process. The issue ended the first day of the bidding with a subscription of 56 per cent, while it was overall booked 1.39 times on the second day. The Rajkot-based Gopal Snacks is selling its shares in the price band of Rs 381-401 apiece. Investors can apply for a minimum of 37 shares and its multiples thereafter. It is looking to raise Rs 650 crore via IPO, which is entirely an offer-for-sale of Rs 650 crore by the promoters and other shareholders of the company. According to the data, the investors made bids for 2,91,85,341 equity shares, or 2.44 times, compared to the 1,19,79,993 equity shares offered for the subscription by 12.35 pm on Monday, March 11. The bidding for the issue, which had opened on Wednesday, March 6, concludes today. The allocation for retail investors was subscribed 3.02 times, while the portion reserved for non-institutional investors saw a subscription of 3.68 times. Employee portion was booked 5.38 times. However, the quota set aside for qualified institutional bidders (QIBs) attracted bids for only 40 per cent as of the same time. The grey market premium of Gopal Snacks has seen a sharp correction following dull market sentiments in the broader markets and less-than-expected listings of recent issues. The company is commanding a premium of Rs 24-25 in the unofficial market, suggesting a listing pop of about 5-6 per cent for the investors. However, the premium in the grey market stood at Rs 120 earlier. Gopal Snacks, incorporated in 1999, is a FMCG company dealing in ethnic and Western snacks, and other products in India and across the globe. The company offers a variety of snack products including ethnic snacks like namkeen and gathiya, as well as western snacks such as wafers, extruded snacks, and snack pellets. Analysts are mostly positive on the issue of Gopal Snacks citing its expansion plans, strong hold in the markets, robust financial performance and solid business growth over the years. However, they see the complete OFS nature of the issue, stiff competition and aggressive pricing as the key risks for the business. The IPO is priced at PE of 43 times on TTM EPS basis vs one of its listed peers which is valued at 70x on TTM EPS basis. Margin improved on account of softening of input prices, said IndSec Research, which believes that brand building and scaling up product reach to focus market (other than Gujarat) would be long term in nature. Growth drivers for the company are deepening penetration of its core and focus market to diversify source of state-wise revenue; enhancing brand building and marketing initiative to improve brand awareness among consumers; and achieving sustainable operating margin through better product mix and backward integrated manufacturing, it said with a 'subscribe for long term' tag. Gopal Snacks raised Rs 193.95 crore from anchor investors, allocating them 48,36,657 shares at a price of Rs 401 apiece. Gopal Snacks has reserved 50 per cent of the net offer for qualified institutional investors (QIBs), while non-institutional investors (NIIs) will have 15 per cent of allocation. Retail investors will have 35 per cent of the net issue reserved for them. The issue is priced at a P/BV of 14.44 based on its NAV of Rs. 27.78 as of September 30, 2024 and is asking for a PE multiple of 44.46 times on the upper end of the price band and using diluted EPS for FY23. The industry average is 121.27 times. The issue seems reasonably priced, said Sushil Finance with a 'subscribe' rating for the issue citing opportunities and valuations. Axis Capital, Intensive Fiscal Services and JM Financial are the book running lead managers of the Gopal Snacks IPO, while Link Intime India is the registrar for the issue. Shares of the company are likely to debut on both BSE and NSE and March 14 is the tentative date of listing.