Zetwerk Manufacturing’s initial public offering opened for subscription on 15 October 2026 and runs until 19 October, with a price band of Rs 143 to Rs 151 per share. The issue is worth Rs 5,012 crore, made up of a fresh issue of Rs 2,830 crore and an offer for sale of Rs 2,182 crore, which covers about 14.45 crore equity shares. The minimum application is 99 shares, which costs Rs 14,949 at the upper end.
The company describes itself as a technology-led global manufacturing platform. It was incorporated in 2017 and is based in Bengaluru, and it operates as a managed marketplace that connects enterprises with manufacturing partners for custom and large-scale production. One report described it as a Zomato-style manufacturing marketplace, which is a comparison made by the writer, not the company.
The proceeds from the fresh issue are to be used for repaying debt, for funding inorganic growth through acquisitions that have not yet been identified, for strategic acquisitions and for general corporate purposes. Because a large part of the issue is an offer for sale, those proceeds will go to the selling shareholders and not to the company.
The reservation is heavily tilted towards institutions: qualified institutional buyers have 75% of the issue, non-institutional investors 15% and retail investors 10%. That is different from many mainboard issues in which retail investors get 35%, and it means that retail applicants face a smaller allocation. Allotment is expected on 21 October and listing on 23 October on the NSE and BSE.
The financial numbers show a large business that is losing money. For FY26 the company reported revenue of Rs 16,100.63 crore and a net loss of Rs 1,606.17 crore. In the first quarter of FY27 it reported revenue of Rs 4,195.70 crore and a net loss of Rs 732.98 crore. The reports give a market capitalisation of more than Rs 25,500 crore at the upper end.
Valuation multiples reported for FY26 were EV to EBITDA of 66.5 times, EV to sales of 1.4 times and price to sales of 1.6 times. A high EBITDA multiple reflects low or negative earnings, and investors in loss-making companies depend on forecasts of future growth, so these numbers are best read together with the company’s prospectus.
Brokerages are split. One report listed ICICIdirect, SBI Securities and Ventura as recommending subscription, Swastika Investmart as neutral and BP Equities as advising investors to avoid it. The grey market premium was reported at Rs 19 to Rs 21, suggesting 12% to 13% listing gains, but that is an informal estimate and can change.
The IPO comes in a crowded week. Other issues opened the same day, including Tonbo Imaging, Bonfiglioli Transmissions and Sahajanand Medical Technologies, and Jio Platforms opens on 21 October, so there is competition for investor money at a time of heavy foreign selling and rising interest rates. Those conditions may affect demand for the more expensive issues.
IndiaX24 reports the facts as published and does not give investment advice. Anyone considering an application should read the red herring prospectus, in particular the section on risk factors, and consider that the company has made losses.
Featured image: A steel fabrication workshop in Suzhou, China (file photo; a stand-in image, not a Zetwerk facility). Photo by Leadingtopunion, licensed under CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.