Barbeque Nation bears the brunt of an uncertain future – shares list at 2% discount

• The shares listed at ₹489.85, 2% lower than the issue price of ₹498-500 per share.
• However, within minutes the shares of the company were trading 3.9% higher at ₹508.95 as of 10.05 am.
• Restaurants across the country face massive restrictions with night curfews in major cities like Mumbai, Delhi and even weekend lockdowns like in the state of Maharashtra, as COVID-19 cases surge.

Barbeque Nation, the Indian casual dining chain, made its stock market debut today. The shares listed at ₹489.85, 2% lower than the issue price of ₹498-500 per share.

However, within minutes the shares of the company were trading 3.9% higher at ₹508.95 as of 10.05 am. The shares of the company had hit upper circuit by 10.35 am.

Grey market estimates had predicted a weak listing for the restaurant chain. According to an ET report, the premium on the stock had fallen to ₹10 from ₹40 a week ago, meaning the stock was trading at ₹510. However, the grey market is not an official measure of the market premium.


The initial public offering (IPO) from the casual dining chain was open for subscription between March 24 and 26 and had been subscribed almost six times.

Category	Subscription Status
Qualified Institutional Buyers	5.11 times
Non-institutional	3.10 times
Retail individual	13.12 times
Employees	1.02 times

In an interview with Business Insider ahead of the IPO, the company’s chief executive officer Rahul Agrawal had said that they have been ‘unlucky with the way they filed the IPO’. “We filed our papers in February 2020, and COVID-19 happened right after that,” he said.

And now, as they make their way to the stock market, restaurants across the country face massive restrictions with night curfews in major cities like Mumbai, Delhi and even weekend lockdowns like in the state of Maharashtra. Restaurant owners fear that the second wave of COVID-19 that has been surging through the country, and the subsequent lockdowns could prove lethal for them.

Barbeque Nation has already been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, in April and May there was barely any business, eventually, the growth started from June and by November, their business was at 84% of last year’s November numbers.

But Agrawal said that while there may be a short term disruption in business, their long term vision to grow in the Indian restaurant industry remains intact.

“This will be the nature of the business going forward for at least a couple of quarters – different states will have different restrictions. In the short term, you would see business disruption. We believe that we have already gone through a strict lockdown in the past, and survived it and that will help us sail through this,” he had said.