Tonbo Imaging's IPO Closed 135.9 Times Covered at 79 Times Earnings
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Tonbo Imaging's IPO Closed 135.9 Times Covered at 79 Times Earnings
The ₹852 crore offer is entirely a sale of existing shares, so none of the money reaches a company whose FY26 profit fell to ₹50.88 crore from ₹72.76 crore.
Tonbo Imaging's ₹852.18 crore IPO ended bidding on Monday, Oct. 19, subscribed 135.9 times, with bids for 115.87 crore shares against 85.26 lakh offered, Inc42 reported. At the top of the ₹665 to ₹700 price band, the defence-optics maker would be worth about ₹4,010 crore, nearly 79 times its FY26 profit.
The offer is entirely a sale of up to 1,21,74,046 existing shares, so Tonbo itself receives none of the money. Bidding is not ownership: allotment is scheduled for Oct. 21 and listing on BSE and NSE for Oct. 23, according to HDFC Sky, and Inc42 calls the listing date expected rather than fixed.
How 135.9 times broke down by investor type
| Category | Times subscribed | Bids against reserved shares |
|---|---|---|
| Qualified institutions | 293.56 | 71.39 crore vs 24.32 lakh |
| Non-institutional | 170.94 | 31.18 crore vs 18.24 lakh |
| Employees | 54.31 | 7.60 lakh vs 14,000 |
| Retail | 31.07 | 13.22 crore vs 42.56 lakh |
- Qualified institutions293.56 times
- Non-institutional170.94 times
- Employees54.31 times
- Retail31.07 times
- Overall135.9 times
Source: Inc42, final day of bidding, accessed 2026-10-19
Qualified institutional buyers, institutions such as mutual funds that hold half of the book under Business Today's allocation figures, bid 293.56 times their reserve, including 17.72 crore shares from foreign institutions. On Oct. 16 at 5:03 p.m. the same category stood at 3.95 times, anchor portion excluded, and the whole issue at 7.78 times.
Retail, 35 percent of the book, reached 31.07 times, and 11.63 crore of its shares were bid at the cut-off price, meaning those bidders accept whatever price is set. Zetwerk's ₹5,012 crore issue also closed Oct. 19, at 3.06 times overall, with its retail book at 0.73 times where Tonbo's was at 31.07.
What 79 times earnings buys
| Year to March | Revenue from operations (₹ crore) | Profit after tax (₹ crore) |
|---|---|---|
| FY24 | 428.19 | 68.54 |
| FY25 | 469.08 | 72.76 |
| FY26 | 362.65 | 50.88 |
Revenue fell 22.7 percent in FY26, according to an Inc42 analysis of the filing. Business Today lists ₹369.94 crore for the same year, a ₹7.29 crore gap that neither article explains. Chief executive Arvind Kondangi Lakshmikumar attributes the fall to delayed international programmes in Morocco and Armenia, tied to shipping disruption from the West Asia crisis, and said defence businesses should be judged over three to five years.
Operating cash flow was negative in both years the analysis gives, about ₹136 crore in FY25 and about ₹63 crore in FY26, despite positive profit. Inventory rose from ₹219.49 crore in March to ₹319.63 crore in June. The order book stood at ₹314.24 crore on June 30, about 87 percent of FY26 revenue, and the top 10 customers supplied 77.83 percent of that revenue. ICICIdirect Research puts the price at about 80 times FY26 earnings and 11 times sales.
Tonbo designs thermal imaging systems, weapon sights, fire-control systems and missile seekers, and outsources manufacturing to Kaynes Technology and Avalon Technology. It began as a Sarnoff Corporation subsidiary.
Who is selling and what brokerages said
Forty-three anchor investors took 36.5 lakh shares at ₹700 for ₹255.4 crore, a book that Business Today says included SBI Mutual Fund, HDFC Mutual Fund, Goldman Sachs and BlackRock. None of the articles read names the selling shareholders. Swastika Investmart says proceeds go to selling private equity funds and founders, and Sushil Finance says promoters Arvind Lakshmikumar, Ankit Kumar and Cecilia D'Souza will hold 15.72 percent after the issue.
Before bidding opened on Oct. 15, ICICIdirect Research, SBI Securities, BP Equities and Ventura Securities said subscribe, while Sushil Finance, Religare Broking and Swastika Investmart were neutral. SBI Securities said revenue visibility looks limited because of long sales cycles and tender-driven procurement. The unofficial grey-market premium was ₹490 to ₹500 that day, about 70 percent to 72 percent, a figure that predates the final book.
Sellers could likewise take 76 percent of Cult.fit's ₹4,000 crore IPO. Inc42 reports ₹118.15 crore of new orders received from July to September, a quarter whose result Tonbo will publish as a listed company, against the ₹17.74 crore net loss of April to June.
Sources
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