Cube Highways InvIT IPO draws 3% demand despite ₹1,687cr anchor book
Cube Highways Trust's ₹20,429.86 crore IPO is struggling to attract public investors on its second day, even as major domestic and global institutions committed over ₹2,900 crore ahead of the listing.
Cube Highways Trust opened its initial public offering on Wednesday at a price band of ₹151-152 per unit, but public demand has been muted. By mid-morning on the second day of the subscription window, the issue had garnered bids for just 3% of the 13.66 crore units on offer.
The tepid response contrasts sharply with strong pre-issue institutional support. The trust raised ₹1,687.5 crore from 59 anchor investors at the upper price band. Global banks including Citigroup and Morgan Stanley participated, alongside major Indian insurers such as SBI Life, ICICI Prudential Life, and Bajaj Allianz Life.
Domestic mutual funds accounted for a significant portion of the anchor book, with HDFC AMC, SBI Mutual Fund, and Nippon India Mutual Fund among the participants. Prior to the anchor round, the trust also secured ₹1,250 crore from five strategic investors, including HDFC Life Insurance and WhiteOak Capital REIT & InvIT Alternatives Fund I.
Azim Premji-backed Prazim Trading and Investment Company invested an additional ₹300 crore through the strategic investors' portion. This brought Prazim's total investment in the trust to ₹950 crore ahead of the public listing.
The entire offering is an offer for sale by existing unitholders as the privately held infrastructure investment trust transitions to a public entity. Because there is no fresh issue of units, Cube Highways Trust will not receive any proceeds from the listing, which values the trust at approximately ₹20,429.86 crore at the upper price band. Units are trading at a flat premium of zero in the grey market, indicating no immediate pricing upside for short-term traders.
Despite the slow public start, brokerages view the trust as a solid long-term hold. Marwadi Shares & Finance estimated the fair enterprise value at around ₹36,842 crore by March 2026, citing the trust's acquisition pipeline and right-of-first-offer assets. SMIFS and Sushil Financial Services also issued "Subscribe" ratings, pointing to the geographically diversified road portfolio and investment-grade balance sheet as drivers for sustainable returns.
Under the allocation structure, 75% of the issue is reserved for Qualified Institutional Buyers, with the remaining 25% earmarked for Non-Institutional Investors. Bids from the institutional category had yet to materialize by Thursday morning, while the category for other investors stood at 7%. The issue is scheduled to close on Friday.
