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India's Travel Food Services IPO is fully subscribed at the final day of auction

The $234 million IPO of Indian airport restaurant operator Travel Food Services was pushed through by institutional investors on Wednesday, as retail investors stayed away due to concerns over U.S. Trade Deals.

India's ninth largest IPO this year took place in a month where firms were expected to raise $2.4billion through initial share sales.

The bids from institutions were 5,23 times more than the reserved shares. Retail bids were at 0.44 as of 2:12 pm IST.

Sunny Agarwal is the head of fundamental equity analysis at SBICAPS Securities. She said that the overhang of an upcoming trade agreement with the U.S. was likely to keep risk-averse retail and non-institutional investors away from TFS's IPO.

India is the third largest aviation market in the world. As disposable incomes increase, passengers spend more on food and beverages and other premium services, such as lounges.

CRISIL, a ratings agency, projects that India's airport quick-service restaurant sector will grow between 17%-19% per year to reach 170 billion to 180 billion rupees in fiscal 2034. The lounge sector could even grow by up to 24% at 165 billion rupees.

Travel Food Services is a joint venture of the UK's SSP Group with India's K Hospitality Corp. It operates restaurants like Jamie Oliver's Pizzeria and Krispy Kreme, and 37 lounges at 18 airports in India, Malaysia, and Hong Kong.

The three-day IPO, which ends on Wednesday, is an offer to sell. Its largest shareholder, the Kapur Family Trust has sold a stake of 20 billion rupees (13.81%) at the upper end of the price range between 1,045 and 1,100 rupees.

TFS allocated shares worth almost 6 billion rupees on Friday to large institutional investors, including the sovereign wealth funds ADIA & Norges.

(source: Reuters)