Meesho IPO: Samir Arora Calls For Regulator Intervention On Fairness Amid Anchor Allotment Row
The issue, he insisted, lies with funds that inflate orders at the last minute to secure allocations without truly participating in price discovery.
India’s red-hot IPO market has been jolted by a rare backlash after several major global investors reportedly pulled out of Meesho Ltd.’s anchor book, prompting Helios Capital founder Samir Arora to call for urgent regulatory intervention to make the process “more fair.”
Arora criticised the current structure of anchor allocations in high-demand IPOs, describing them as “a valuable gift to be given to big funds by brokers and their investment banking arms.”
His comments followed a Bloomberg report that Meesho allocated nearly a quarter of its anchor tranche to SBI Funds Management Pvt., India’s largest asset manager a move that triggered pushback from other institutional investors.
In a clarification posted later, Arora stressed that his criticism was not directed at SBI MF. “They are genuine anchors who do help in setting the price and commit very early,” he said. The issue, he insisted, lies with funds that inflate orders at the last minute to secure allocations without truly participating in price discovery. “Then what anchor,” he wrote, arguing that many so-called anchors simply “pile on” because the IPO is hot.
Arora floated a potential solution: anchor lists should be finalised and announced 30 days before an IPO opens, ensuring that institutions engage meaningfully in negotiating and setting valuations instead of swooping in based on the momentum of the deal. The current process, he said, encourages opportunistic bidding driven by commissions and size rather than long-term commitment.
Investor Pushback Hits Meesho’s Anchor Book
According to a report by Bloomberg, Meesho’s anchor book faced withdrawals from several prominent investors after the disproportionate allocation to SBI Funds. Those who pulled out included Capital Group, Aberdeen Group Plc, Norges Bank Investment Management, ICICI Prudential AMC, Nippon India Life Asset Management, and Nomura Asset Management.
Many of these funds, according to the report, had sought allocations similar to SBI Funds and opted out in protest when their expectations were not met.
The anchor tranche is a crucial signalling mechanism for market confidence, typically drawing long-only global investors who help set the tone for pricing.
Meesho, however, received strong institutional participation in its pre-IPO anchor round, raising Rs 2,440 crore on Tuesday.
Marque foreign entities like BlackRock, Fidelity, Government of Singapore, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Schroder Group, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were allotted shares.
