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Shares of Kanohar Electricals Ltd. listed on the bourses on Wednesday, September 16, at a premium to their issue price, although the listing premium was lower than what the unlisted market rates were speculating. The stock began trading at ₹685.5 apiece, 8.5% higher in comparison to their issue price of ₹632. However, before its listing, shares were commanding a premium of over 30% over the IPO price in the grey market.
It must be noted that GMP rates are only speculative in nature and today's listing price was proof that rates differ from what the speculative rates are. The ₹1,055.7-crore initial public offering (IPO) of Kanohar Electricals was subscribed 90.59 times on the final day of bidding. The IPO received bids for 1,05,92,88,437 shares against 1,16,93,326 shares on offer.
The portion reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) was subscribed 215.37 times, while the non-institutional investor category was subscribed 87.74 times. The retail investor portion received 20.51 times subscription. Mahesh M Ojha, Vice President, Research & Business Development at Kantilal Chhaganlal Securities, said the company's in-house manufacturing and integrated capabilities can support better quality control, execution efficiency and scalability as demand for transformers increases.
Rising investments in power transmission and distribution, renewable energy integration, railway electrification and grid modernisation are expected to drive sustained demand for transformers, he said. "However, IPO allotted investors can book partial listing gains and remain invested for the long term. Expected listing gain could be 25-27 percent," Ojha said.
Kanohar Electricals had set a price band of ₹601-632 per equity share. At the upper end of the price band, the issue values the company at around ₹5,004.6 crore. The company had garnered ₹316.72 crore from anchor investors ahead of the IPO opening.
Some of the marquee institutions that participated in the anchor book include Ashoka Whiteoak ICAV - Ashoka Whiteoak Emerging Markets Equity Fund, Allianz Global Investors Fund - Allianz India Equity, HSBC Global Investment Funds - Asia Ex Japan Equity Smaller Companies, VQ FasterCap Fund and HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd. The IPO comprised a fresh issue of shares worth up to ₹300 crore and an Offer For Sale (OFS) of 1.19 crore shares by promoter entity K Sons Family Trust. The OFS is worth ₹755.7 crore at the upper end of the price band.
Of the ₹300 crore to be raised through the fresh issue, ₹64.1 crore will be used for capital expenditure and other infrastructure-related requirements. This includes the purchase of machinery and equipment for the Gangol manufacturing facility, expansion and automation of backward integration facilities, civil construction and interior development of an office building, setting up solar power plants at manufacturing facilities, and purchasing electric trucks and forklifts. Another ₹155 crore will be used to fund incremental working capital requirements, while the remaining proceeds will be earmarked for general corporate purposes.
Kanohar Electricals to return to stock market after 16 years The IPO marks Kanohar Electricals' return to the stock market, 16 years after it voluntarily delisted its equity shares from the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Delhi Stock Exchange and Uttar Pradesh Stock Exchange. The company's shares were first listed on the three exchanges in 1995 but were subsequently delisted in 2010, citing low liquidity and trading volumes, according to its red herring prospectus (RHP). The IPO documents also identify low liquidity and trading volumes as the reasons for the company's voluntary delisting.
As of March 2026, Kanohar Electricals had an order book of ₹1,818.3 crore. The transformer business accounted for 83% of the company's topline in FY26, while EPC contributed 16%. The remaining revenue came from other activities.
The company reported a sharp increase in revenue and profit in FY26. Revenue rose 45.1% to ₹653.8 crore from ₹450.6 crore in FY25, while profit for the year nearly doubled to ₹129.7 crore from ₹65 crore in the previous year. Kanohar Electricals operates in a segment that includes listed players such as Hitachi Energy India, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Schneider Electric Infrastructure, CG Power and Industrial Solutions, Transformers & Rectifiers (India), and GE Vernova T&D India.
Promoted by IIT alumnus Dinesh Singhal, Kanohar Electricals manufactures transformers and undertakes engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects in the power transmission and distribution segment. Its EPC operations allow the company to undertake turnkey projects involving substations and transmission lines, in addition to its core transformer manufacturing business. The company operates two manufacturing facilities in Uttar Pradesh, located at Rithani and Gangol.
Together, the plants have a transformer manufacturing capacity of 19,200 MVA. The ₹1,055.7-crore IPO of Kanohar Electricals opened for subscription on September 8 and closed on September 10.
Source: CNBC TV18
