Markets Magazine
Best IPO Coal India Gains 67% Among Initial Sales of $1 Billion
This article is for subscribers only.
Money manager William Fries went to India in the summer of 2010 in search of investments for his Thornburg International Value Fund. Visiting companies in Mumbai and Delhi, he found they kept diesel backup generators on hand for the power interruptions that are common as the country struggles with an inadequate electricity supply.
That led Fries, four months later, to buy shares in the $3.5 billion initial public offering of Coal India Ltd., the state-owned coal producer. He reasoned that sales of India’s main power-plant fuel would grow as more generation is added, helping the company’s earnings.