Glossary
Every term the site prints, in a sentence or two. The same definitions appear when you hover or focus a term anywhere on the site.
- Acceptance ratio
- The share of tendered stock a buyback actually takes. Tender 100 shares against a 30% acceptance and 30 are bought; the rest return to your demat. Read the explainer
- Anchor investors
- Institutions allotted shares one working day before the IPO opens, at a fixed price, out of the QIB portion. Half their shares are locked in for 30 days and the rest for 90.
- Counter offer
- If the discovered price is above the indicative price, the promoter may propose a lower price instead, never below the indicative price. Read the explainer
- Current market price
- We take the price from the exchange every 5 minutes while the market is open (9:15 to 3:30 IST), and again after the close at 3:45 and 4:00. Outside those hours you are seeing the last reading.
- Cutoff price
- The lowest price at which every share on offer finds a buyer. Bids at or above it get stock; bids below it get nothing.
- Discovered price
- In a delisting, the price at which tendered shares take the promoter’s holding to 90%, read from bids stacked lowest to highest. Read the explainer
- Entitlement
- The number of shares per holding a buyback guarantees to accept, set from record-date holdings, for example 11 for every 71 held. Read the explainer
- Floor price
- The lowest price SEBI allows in a delisting, worked out from recent trading prices, the acquirer’s own purchases and adjusted book value. Read the explainer
- GMP
- Grey market premium. The premium over the issue price at which unlisted IPO shares change hands in the unofficial grey market. It is unofficial and unregulated.
- HNI / NII
- Non-institutional investors: individuals and others bidding above ₹2 lakh. Split into small (₹2–10 lakh) and big (above ₹10 lakh).
- Indicative price
- A price above the floor that the promoter names before bidding. If the discovered price lands between the floor and it, the promoter must pay the indicative price. Read the explainer
- Issue size
- The total value of shares on offer, at the top of the band: new shares the company issues (fresh issue) plus existing shares sold by holders (Offer for Sale).
- Kostak
- A flat amount paid in the grey market for someone’s IPO application, kept whether or not it wins allotment.
- Listing gain
- The opening price on listing day against the issue price, in rupees and per cent.
- Lot
- The fixed number of shares bids are made in. A bid is for one lot or a whole number of lots.
- Maximum price
- In an open-market buyback, the highest price the company will pay on the exchange. A ceiling, not a price offered to holders. Read the explainer
- Minimum investment
- The smallest bid allowed: the minimum number of lots times the lot size, at the top of the price band. SME IPOs need two lots since July 2025.
- Offer price
- In an open offer, the price per share the acquirer pays for shares tendered and accepted.
- OFS floor price
- The lowest price the seller will accept in an Offer for Sale. Bids below it are not valid.
- Open-market buyback
- Nothing is set aside for existing shareholders, and the company’s orders meet the market like any other. The maximum price is a ceiling on what the company will pay, not a price offered to holders. Read the explainer
- Price band
- The range of prices, per share, within which bids are taken in a book-built IPO. The final issue price is set inside it after bidding closes.
- QIB
- Qualified institutional buyers: mutual funds, banks, insurers and registered foreign investors. Usually up to 50% of a mainboard book-built issue.
- Record date
- The day whose closing holdings decide who is entitled. Shares acquired on the record date itself settle too late to count. Read the explainer
- Retail
- Individual investors bidding up to ₹2 lakh in one IPO.
- Reverse book building
- The delisting auction: holders bid the price at which they will tender, and the price that gets the promoter to 90% is the discovered price. Read the explainer
- Rights entitlement
- The right to take up new shares in a rights issue, credited to the demat account. It can be traded on the exchange during its window and lapses if unused.
- Rights ratio
- New shares offered for shares held on the record date. 2:21 means 2 new shares for every 21 held.
- Room to max price
- In an open-market buyback, how far the maximum price is above the latest market price. The company pays market prices up to that ceiling, so this is not a gain to holders. Read the explainer
- Subject to sauda
- An amount paid for an application only if it wins allotment; nothing changes hands otherwise.
- Subscription
- Shares bid for divided by shares on offer, per investor category. 3.00× means bids for three times the shares available.
- Tender offer
- A buyback at one fixed price for a fixed number of shares, open to every holder on the record date for five working days. Read the explainer
- The 90% rule
- A delisting goes through only if the acquirer ends up holding 90% of the company. Short of that, the offer fails and the stock stays listed. Read the explainer