Iran war puts listings on hold

Global volatility is threatening multibillion-dollar listings in India, the world’s busiest IPO market.

Payments app PhonePe’s move to halt listing plans on Monday underlined a growing tension in the country as investor appetite weakens amid the fallout from the Middle East conflict.

Indian benchmark indices have fallen more than 12 percent since January; Most of the declines have occurred in recent weeks as the Iran war triggered energy and trade supply shocks that risk slowing growth and hurting corporate earnings.

Rupee slide against the dollar offers little respite and foreign institutional investors Achieved sales of over 8 billion dollars The value of stocks so far this month, According to data from securities depository NSDL.

This risk-averse environment drains liquidity from the primary market and reduces the chances of IPOs securing the premium valuations that make going public attractive, experts said.

Including several Indian tech and consumer startups WalmartPhonePe, flash trading app Zepto, e-commerce retailer Flipkart and hotel chain Oyo have postponed their plans due to valuation mismatches, according to Samir Bahl, chief executive officer of investment banking at Anand Rathi Advisors.

In December, Zepto secretly filed for an IPO and planned to raise over $1.2 billion in new capital. softbanksupported accommodation initiative Oyo I did The same thing happened in December, according to Reuters.

Oyo and Walmart-owned Flipkart did not respond to emails seeking comment.

In response to CNBC’s question about its IPO plans, Zepto said it “remains consistent with its previous recommendations, subject to market regulations.” Because the company had filed confidentially for an IPO, it was unclear what the previous recommendation was, but a company spokesman said it plans to launch an IPO around June.

During a phone call with CNBC, a spokesperson from PhonePe reiterated the company’s stance in Monday’s note; In that note, it was stated that the flash trading company had temporarily paused its IPO listing due to “current geopolitical conflicts and market volatility.”

Big-ticket IPOs, including those of NSE, telco Reliance Jio and SBI Mutual Fund, are expected to resume “once conditions improve”, Bahl said, adding that “timing and pricing will require careful calibration”.

India’s largest telecom company Reliance Jio is planning its IPO for the first half of 2026 and is currently banker appointment processAccording to a report by Reuters. National Stock Exchange, India’s largest stock exchange 20 commercial bankers appointedIn a statement made on March 12, it was said:

“India’s IPOs and other fundraising have been a function of the market level,” Mahesh Nandurkar, head of research and India strategist at Jefferies, told CNBC’s Inside India on Tuesday. he said.

He added that public offering activities have slowed down because investors have lost their appetite since February 28, when the war began in Iran.

Global brokerage firms also lowered their expectations: nomura In a note to investors on March 16, he cut his year-end Nifty 50 target by 15% from 29,300. Citi It lowered its forecast from 28,500 to 27,000, taking into account the impact of rising oil prices and supply shocks resulting from Middle East tensions.

Shouvik Purkayastha, Nuvama’s managing director of investment banking, said the liquidity needed to absorb mega IPOs is lacking, adding that it is unlikely to return “in the near term” in a written response to CNBC.

For the last two years, India’s primary market has been buzzing with activity. tops global charts According to EY’s Global IPO Trends 2025 report, there were 367 IPOs in 2025.

But experts say recent weak returns are keeping retail and high-net-worth investors on the sidelines.

Eight of the 11 IPOs listed since the beginning of the year are trading below their IPO prices, according to stock exchange data.

“Retail and HNI investors are shying away from the market,” Purkayastha said, adding that these investors will return only when there is a sharp improvement in returns.

Few companies proceed with their IPOs due to “urgent financing requirement”[s]”For business needs or because of the need to comply with regulatory timelines,” Anand Rathi Advisors’ Bahl said, adding that investor participation has been “relatively muted, especially from retail investors.”

Even foreign institutional investors who exited the secondary market last year invested Approximately $1.5 billion public offering from January to March 2025, opposite According to NSDL data, this year it is only $820 million.

This situation stimulated domestic institutional investors by 60 percent. straight According to Purkayastha, there has been positive equity inflow from Indian investors for months and pricing is firmly in control.

He stated that domestic institutional investors currently determine IPO prices by “bargaining hard” and added that they want IPOs to be evaluated in a “competitive” manner.