BlackBuck Shares End Debut Session 4.7% Below IPO Price

Shares of Zinka Logistics Solutions, the parent of logistics major BlackBuck, fell nearly 6.5% below the IPO price during the intraday trading on the BSE in its debut session on Friday (November 22), even as benchmark indices BSE Sensex and Nifty gained over 2% each.

BlackBuck shares made a muted debut on exchanges, listing at a modest premium of 2.2% on the BSE. The stock debuted at INR 279.05 on the BSE against the IPO issue price of INR 273.

The stock surged 2.4% from the listing price to reach an intraday peak of INR 285.80 on the BSE in a volatile trading session. However, it also fell 6.5% below the IPO price to reach an intraday low of INR 255.25.

Shares of BlackBuck closed the session at INR 260.20, down 4.7% from the IPO price. The company’s market capitalisation stood at INR 4,591.98 Cr (around $543.8 Mn) at the end of the session. 

The company had set a IPO valuation of INR 4,800 Cr — a steep 32% discount over its peak valuation of INR 7,100 Cr in 2021.

Founded in 2015 by Rajesh Yabaji, Chanakya Hridaya and Rama Subramaniam, BlackBuck commenced operations as a truck aggregator. It has diversified its offering over the years, and now provides a full stack of solutions – from load management and telematics to payments for fuel, FASTag or toll charges, and truck financing. 

The company operates a B2B marketplace specialising in inter-city full truckload (FTL) transportation. 

BlackBuck’s IPO was a combination of fresh issuance of shares worth INR 550 Cr and an offer for sale (OFS) component of more than 2.06 Cr shares. The issue received a lukewarm response from investors, and was subscribed only 1.86 times.

Early backers of BlackBuck – Accel and Flipkart – made gains of up to 5X by divesting some shares in the OFS. On the other hand, the likes of Peak XV Partners and Swedish investment firm VEF AB booked losses via partial stake sales.  

BlackBuck’s public listing comes at a time when India has emerged as a hotbed for startup IPOs, with over a dozen new-age tech companies having gone public in 2024. After months of anticipation, food delivery and quick commerce giant Swiggy made its public debut on November 13, listing at a premium of 8%.

Amid a boom in India’s IPO market, companies such as Ola Electric, Unicommerce, ixigo, FirstCry, Awfis, among others, have hit Dalal Street, while several others like DevX, Ecom Express, Ather Energy are also looking to go public over the coming months.