On Wednesday, 18 December 2024, SEBI came up with a rigid regulatory framework for IPOs in the SME segment. The new SME IPO rules that the market watchdog has approved through a series of amendments of Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements of SEBI Regulations 2018 are to help the SME ecosystem become vibrant and safe for the investors investing in the IPOs of SMEs. The amendments are also made to the Listing Obligations and Disclosures Requirements of SEBI Regulations 2015.
Key highlights of the New SME IPO rules
- As per revised SME IPO rules by SEBI, the overall ratio of offer for sale (OFS) in an SME IPO by selling shareholders cannot be more than 20%. Individually no shareholder can sell more than his or her 50% holding.
- SMEs need to report at least ₹ 1 crore as operating profit in any of the two years of the preceding three years of launching the IPOs. Operating profit means earnings before interest, depreciation, and tax or EBITDA.
- SEBI also mandated that a maximum of 15% of the capital raised through the IPO of an SME can be attributed to General Corporate Purpose (GCP) or ₹ 10 crore, whichever is lower of these two.
- The market watchdog also amended the rules for draft red herring prospectus. Now the SMEs need to make the DRHPs available for public comments at least for 21 days and they need to announce the same publically and share a QR-code-based download option for smooth access for all.
- The proceeds from the SME IPOs cannot be used for repayment of loans from promoters, their groups, or other parties related directly or indirectly.
- On the other hand, SEBI has made compliance easier for the SMEs and now these enterprises can raise funds by further issues without moving to the mainboard segment. However, they need to adhere to the listing norms, which apply to the mainboard companies.
- In addition, the related party transaction (RPT) norms are now applicable for the SMEs with the materiality cap fixed at 10% of annual consolidated turnover or ₹ 50 crore, tower of the two.
Why these new guidelines are crucial?
In this year 2024, until now around 230 SMEs have launched their IPOs and raised around ₹ 8414 crore, and over 126 IPOs of these 230 were oversubscribed by 100 times. Even the average bids doubled to 178 times and this shows the craze around SME ipo investment. While these figures can be enthralling, without stricter norms and regulations, the investors can get hurt in the end. So, to protect the investors’ interest, SEBI has approved these new sebi guidelines for ipos of SMEs.
Source: TheTimesofIndia
______________________________________________________________________________________
Disclaimer: Investments in the securities market are subject to market risks; read all the related documents carefully before investing.