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“From POS Terminals to Fintech Powerhouse: The Pine Labs Ltd Story + IPO Insight”
Dive into how Pine Labs Ltd transformed from a point-of-sale machine provider into one of India’s leading merchant commerce platforms. With nearly a million merchants, ties to over 175 financial institutions, and a fresh + OFS IPO ahead, the company is positioned at the intersection of payments, technology and merchant financing. This post unpacks its business model, IPO structure, and what investors should know.
Written by: SERNET Research Team
Table of Content
Pine Labs Ltd
Pine Labs Ltd offers one of India’s leading merchant commerce platforms. It is much more than a point of sale (POS) company as it also offers payment processing and merchant financing. It takes care of digital empowerment of small businesses as well as arranging for their working capital needs. The company has over 9,88,000 empanelled merchants across over 700 brands and interfaces with over 175 financial institutions for funding. Pine Labs has grown from POS processing to a full-stack fintech solutions provider.
The IPO will be a combination of a fresh issue and an offer for sale (OFS). The fresh funds will be used repayment of debt and investment in subsidiaries. The issue is being lead-managed by Axis Capital, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Global Markets, JP Morgan, and Jefferies India; while KFIN Technologies Ltd (KFINTECH) will be the registrars to the IPO. The company does not have an identifiable promoter group; and is professionally managed.
Highlights of the IPO Issue
Here are the key highlights of the public issue of Pine Labs Ltd.
- The IPO of will be open from November 07th, 2025 to November 11th, 2025. It has a face value of ₹1 per share and IPO price band is set in range of ₹210 to ₹221 per share.
- The IPO of Pine Labs Ltd will be a combination of a fresh issue and an offer for sale of shares by the promoters of the company.
- The fresh portion comprises the issue of 9,41,17,647 shares (941.18 lakh shares), which at the upper price band of ₹221 per share translates into ₹2,080.00 crore.
- The OFS of the IPO comprises the sale of 8,23,48,779 shares (823.49 lakh shares), which at the upper price band of ₹221 per share translates into ₹1,819.91 crore.
- The overall IPO will comprise of a fresh issue and OFS of 17,64,66,426 shares (1,764.66 lakh shares) worth ₹3,899.91 crore at the upper band price of ₹221 per share.
The IPO of Pine Labs Ltd will be listed on the NSE and the BSE on the IPO mainboard.
Key Dates, Investor Allocation, And Lot Sizes
Here are the key dates pertaining to the IPO of Pine Labs Ltd
| Event | Tentative Date |
| IPO Open Date | Friday, 7 November, 2025 |
| IPO Close Date | Tuesday, 11 November, 2025 |
| Basis of Allotment | Wednesday, 12 November, 2025 |
| Initiation of Refunds to non-allottees | Thursday, 13 November, 2025 |
| Credit of Shares to Demat | Thursday, 13 November, 2025 |
| Listing Date on NSE and BSE | Friday, 14 November, 2025 |
Data Source: Company RHP
Investors can apply either through their existing trading account or the ASBA application can be directly logged through the internet banking account. This can only be done through the authorized list of self-certified syndicate banks (SCSB).
The table below captures the gist of the allocation to various categories.
| Category of Investors | Allocation of shares | % Share |
| Reservation for Employees | 1,32,275 shares | 0.07% of total IPO size |
| Anchor Allocation | 8,35,15,886 shares | 46.04% of total IPO size |
| QIB Shares Offered | 5,24,42,127 shares | 28.91% of total IPO size |
| NII (HNI) Shares Offered | 2,71,91,602 shares | 14.99% of total IPO size |
| Retail Shares Offered | 1,81,27,735 shares | 9.99% of total IPO size |
| Total Shares Offered | 18,14,09,625 shares | 100.00% of Total IPO size |
Data Source: Security Parameters Filing (NSE)
The anchor portion, is carved out of the QIB portion and the QIB portion available in the IPO offer has been reduced proportionately. Please note that the above shares are final and may differ marginally from the original announcement. Here is a quick look at the lot sizes applicable for the IPO of Pine Labs Ltd for various categories of investors.
| Application | Lots | Shares | Amount |
| Retail (Min) | 1 | 67 | ₹ 14,807 |
| Retail (Max) | 13 | 871 | ₹ 1,92,491 |
| S-HNI (Min) | 14 | 938 | ₹ 2,07,298 |
| S-HNI (Max) | 67 | 4,489 | ₹ 9,92,069 |
| B-HNI (Min) | 68 | 4,556 | ₹ 10,06,876 |
It may be noted here that for the B-HNI category and for the QIB (qualified institutional buyer) category, there are no upper limits applicable. (1 Lot = 67 shares)
Financial Highlights
The table captures the key financials of Pine Labs Ltd for last 3 financial years.
| Particulars | FY25 | FY24 | FY23 |
| Net Revenues (₹ in crore) | 2,274.27 | 1,769.55 | 1,597.66 |
| Sales Growth (%) | 28.52% | 10.76% | |
| Profit after Tax (₹ in crore) | -145.49 | -341.90 | -265.15 |
| PAT Margins (%) | -6.40% | -19.32% | -16.60% |
| Total Equity (₹ in crore) | 3,506.15 | 3,541.93 | 3,738.98 |
| Total Assets (₹ in crore) | 10,715.74 | 9,648.56 | 9,363.21 |
| Return on Equity (%) | -4.15% | -9.65% | -7.09% |
| Return on Assets (%) | -1.36% | -3.54% | -2.83% |
| Asset Turnover Ratio (X) | 0.21 | 0.18 | 0.17 |
| Earnings per share (₹) | -1.45 | -3.46 | -2.70 |
Data Source: Company RHP filed with SEBI (FY refers to Apr-Mar period)
The POS and fintech business need a lot of front-loading of investments. However, that is the nature of the business. Hence, the company continues to make net losses over the last 3 years. Hence, many of the rations like net margins and ROE may not be entirely relevant here. However, the asset turnover appears to be too low, due to a bloated asset base.
Valuation Metrics
As stated earlier, the company has been consistently making losses over the years and hence traditional valuation metrics cannot be applied. However, there is one thing that investors must keep in mind. The company has substantial liquid assets on its balance sheet, which accounts for nearly 60% of the overall asset size. That is surely putting pressure on the asset turnover ratios of the company.
Despite the losses, there are some advantages that Pine Labs Ltd brings to the table as a business. Today, it owns the ecosystem that brings customers, merchants and financiers under one platform. That has a network effect which can be valuable in the long run if properly leveraged. It has an API based approach to interfacing with merchants, which makes it a lot more user-friendly. Over the years, the company has built deep rooted relationships across merchants and financial institutions, which can be leveraged in multiple ways in the future. However, investors must be clear that the IPO is a bet on the future and the ability of the company to fully leverage its network intangibles.
A Brief on the Anchor Allocation
The anchor issue of Pine Labs Ltd saw a strong response on 06th November 2025 with 44.77% of the IPO size absorbed by anchors. Out of 17,72,52,725 shares (1,772.53 lakh shares) on offer in the IPO, anchors picked up 7,93,58,986 shares (793.59 lakh shares) accounting for 44.77% of the total IPO size. The entire anchor allocation was made at the upper end of the price band of ₹221 per share. This includes the face value of ₹1 per share plus a share premium of ₹220 per share. The anchor bidding process opened and closed on 06th November 2025.
Key Points to Note in the Anchor Allocation Process
Here are the key details pertaining to the anchor bidding of Pine Labs Ltd
| Bid Date | November 06, 2025 |
| Shares Offered | 7,93,58,986 shares |
| Anchor Portion Size (₹ in crore) | ₹1,753.83 crore |
| Anchor lock-in period end date for 50% shares (30 Days) | December 11, 2025 |
| Anchor lock-in period end date for remaining shares (90 Days) | February 10, 2026 |
An anchor investor in an IPO is a qualified institutional buyer (QIB) like a foreign portfolio investor or mutual fund or insurance company or a sovereign fund which invests before the IPO is made available to the public as per SEBI regulations. It helps in price discovery.
Anchor Allocation Investors
On 06th November 2025, Pine Labs Ltd allotted 7,93,58,986 shares to 71 anchor investors. The allocation was done at the upper IPO price band of ₹221 per share which resulted in overall anchor allocation of ₹1,753.83 crore. The anchors have already absorbed 44.77% of the total issue size of ₹3,917.29 crore. Listed below are the Top 10 IPO anchor investors who accounted for anchor collection of ₹854.83 crores, or, 48.74% of the overall anchor allocation of shares in Pine Labs Ltd done on November 06, 2025.
| Anchor Investors |
No. of Shares |
% of Anchor Portion |
Value Allocated |
|
| 01 | SBI Mid Cap Fund | 1,04,07,579 | 13.11% | ₹ 230.01 |
| 02 | Nomura India Investment Mother Fund | 56,56,140 | 7.13% | ₹ 125.00 |
| 03 | ABSL Large Cap Fund | 45,59,685 | 5.75% | ₹ 100.77 |
| 04 | Mirae Asset Mid Cap Fund | 36,19,943 | 4.56% | ₹ 80.00 |
| 05 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 29,41,166 | 3.71% | ₹ 65.00 |
| 06 | SBI Banking & Financial Services Fund | 27,14,907 | 3.42% | ₹ 60.00 |
| 07 | ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. | 24,88,715 | 3.14% | ₹ 55.00 |
| 08 | BNP Paribas – ODI | 22,62,456 | 2.85% | ₹ 50.00 |
| 09 | Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance | 20,36,264 | 2.57% | ₹ 45.00 |
| 10 | Templeton EM Investment Trust PLC | 19,93,317 | 2.51% | ₹ 44.05 |
| Grand Total | 3,86,80,172 | 48.74% | ₹ 854.83 |
Data Source: BSE Filings (Value Allocated in ₹ in Crore)
The detailed and comprehensive report on the anchor allocation with the mutual fund portion separated can be accessed on BSE by clicking on the link below.
Out of the 7,93,58,986 shares allocated to the anchors in the IPO, there were a total of 3,75,02,848 shares allocated to mutual funds registered with SEBI. The allocation was made to 30 mutual fund schemes across 12 AMCs. Mutual funds accounted for 47.26% of the total anchor allocation of the IPO. Global FPIs, Sovereign Funds, AIFs, and insurance companies were also active in participating in the anchor allocation of Pine Labs Ltd.
Next Step in the IPO
Post the closure of the IPO subscription on 11th November 2025, the basis of allotment will be finalized on 12th November 2025 and the refunds will be initiated on 13th November 2025. In addition, the demat credits are expected to also happen on 13th November 2025 and the stock will list on 14th November 2025 on the NSE and the BSE. The credits to the demat account to the extent of shares allotted will happen by the close of 13th November 2025 under ISIN (INE15B701018).
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