Aequs shares list at 13% premium over IPO price; should you buy, sell or hold?

Shares of airplane parts maker Aequs Ltd. made their debut on the stock exchanges on Wednesday, December 10. The stock listed at ₹140 on both the NSE and BSE, marking a 13% premium to its issue price.

Earlier, grey market trends also pointed to a double-digit listing gain for the company, which operates across consumer durables, plastics and aerospace components.

The upbeat expectation comes after the ₹922-crore IPO drew strong investor interest during the three-day bidding window from December 3 to December 5, with the offer subscribed 104 times.

Prashanth Tapse of Mehta Equities expects Aequs to list in the ₹154-₹160 range, implying a 24-39% premium to the issue price. He attributed the likely strong debut to the robust subscription response and investor appetite for one of India's most advanced, fully integrated aerospace precision-manufacturing platforms.

Tapse recommended that allotted investors consider holding the stock for the long term, citing Aequs' competitive positioning, global client relationships and alignment with India's expanding aerospace manufacturing ecosystem.

Aequs had set a price band of ₹118-₹124 per share. The grey market premium was hovering around 20% today.

The IPO comprised a fresh issue of 5.40 crore shares worth ₹670 crore and an offer for sale of 2.03 crore shares amounting to ₹251.81 crore.

Promoter entities Melligeri Private Family Foundation and Aequs Manufacturing Investments were among the sellers, along with Amicus Capital, Vasundhara Dempo Family Private Trust, Girija Dempo Family Private Trust and individual shareholders Ravindra Mariwala and Raman Subramanian.

Founder Aravind Shivaputrappa Melligeri serves as executive chairman and CEO.

Aequs is backed by Amicus Capital, Amansa Investments, Steadview Capital Mauritius, Catamaran Ekam and Sparta Group, which together hold 25.54% of its pre-IPO equity.

Ahead of the issue, the company raised about ₹413.9 crore from anchor investors, drawing interest from 33 marquee domestic and global institutions. The anchor list included SBI MF, HDFC MF, ICICI MF, Axis MF, Motilal Oswal MF, BlackRock Global Funds, Bank of India MF, Steadview Capital, Citigroup and Societe Generale.

Proceeds from the fresh issue will be used for debt repayment at subsidiaries AeroStructures Manufacturing India and Aequs Consumer Products, and for machinery purchases, acquisitions, strategic initiatives and general corporate purposes.

Aequs positions itself as India's only precision-component manufacturer operating within a single SEZ with fully integrated aerospace manufacturing capabilities. Its product portfolio spans engine systems, landing gear parts, cargo and interiors, structures, assemblies and turning components.

For the six months ended September 2025, the company's losses narrowed to ₹17 crore from ₹71.7 crore a year earlier, while revenue rose 17% to ₹537.2 crore. However, for FY25, losses widened to ₹102.3 crore versus ₹10.8 crore in the previous year, with revenue declining to ₹924.6 crore from ₹965 crore.

JM Financial, IIFL Capital and Kotak Mahindra Capital acted as the book-running lead managers.