Skyways Air Services IPO Draws Citi, Nomura to Rs 174.5 Crore Anchor Book
Key Takeaways
- •Skyways Air Services raised Rs 174.5 crore from anchor investors, including Citi and Nomura, ahead of its IPO opening for subscription on August 24, 2026.
- •The public issue is sized at Rs 582.80 crore with a price band of Rs 131–138 per share, and the shares are expected to list on the exchanges on September 1, 2026.
- •The anchor tranche accounts for just under 30% of the total issue, near the maximum allowed, as SEBI permits anchor investors to take up to 60% of the QIB quota.
- •Half of the anchor allocation is locked in for 30 days and the other half for 90 days, preventing a significant portion of those shares from being sold on listing day.
- •SEBI introduced the anchor mechanism in 2009 to strengthen price discovery in public offers.
Skyways Air Services has raised Rs 174.5 crore from anchor investors ahead of its initial public offering (IPO), which opens for subscription on August 24, 2026, according to a report by Economic Times Markets. The public issue is sized at Rs 582.80 crore, carries a price band of Rs 131–138 per share, and the company's shares are expected to list on the exchanges on September 1, 2026.
The anchor book drew marquee institutional backing, with Citi and Nomura among the investors joining the roughly Rs 174 crore allocation, the report said. The anchor tranche works out to just under 30% of the total issue size — close to the maximum the framework allows, since SEBI permits anchor investors to take up to 60% of the QIB quota, which typically forms half of a book-built issue of this size. Anchor allotment details, including investor names and the price of allocation, are disclosed to the stock exchanges a day before the issue opens, giving the wider market visibility into institutional demand before public bidding begins.
How the anchor book works
In Indian book-built IPOs, anchor investors are institutional participants who are allotted shares one working day before the issue opens to the general public. The anchor book forms part of the qualified institutional buyer (QIB) portion of an offering, and allotments to anchor investors are subject to lock-in requirements prescribed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Under the current framework, half of an anchor allocation is locked in for 30 days from allotment and the other half for 90 days, so a significant portion of the shares cannot be sold on listing day. SEBI introduced the anchor mechanism in 2009 to strengthen price discovery in public offers.
Anchor allotments are settled at the final issue price determined through the book-building process, in which investors place bids within the announced price band during the subscription window. With the anchor book in place, the next visible markers are the subscription levels across the QIB, non-institutional and retail categories during the window that opens on August 24, and the final price discovered within the Rs 131–138 band, ahead of the expected September 1 listing.
