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Anchor Investors in an IPO

Last updated August 22, 2026

This IPO News guide/article covers “Anchor Investors in an IPO”. The page is organized around anchor investors meaning, anchor investors minimum investment, anchor investor lock-in period, difference between anchor investors and qibs, anchor investors reservation in ipo. IPO News presents the structured facts and tables in its own layout and wording.

Topics Covered

Anchor Investors Meaning
Anchor Investors Minimum Investment
Anchor Investor Lock-in Period
Difference between Anchor Investors and QIBs
Anchor Investors Reservation in IPO
IPO Allotment to Anchor Investors
Role of Anchor Investors in IPO
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Frequently Asked Questions
1. When does an IPO open for anchor investors?−
2. Can Anchor investors cancel their bid?+
3. Where to find list of anchor investors in an IPO?+
4. Does every IPO have anchor investors?+
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Key Facts

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There is a minimum lock-in period of 30 days for anchor investments in an IPO. Anchor investors are not allowed to sell the allotted IPO shares during the lock-in period and must hold the shares in their demat account.
Let us briefly explain the difference between QIBs and anchor investors;
Generally, in any public issue, shares are reserved for three categories of investors: QIBs (Qualified Institutional Buyers), High Net Worth Individuals (HNIs) and Retail Individual Investors (RIIs).
Suppose a company offered Rs 10,000 Cr IPO to the public. Now, issue size reserved for QIBs, NIIs, and RIIs will be as follows;
QIB: 50% i.e., Rs 5,000 Cr
NII: 15% i.e., Rs 1,500 Cr
RII: 35% i.e., Rs 3,500 Cr
Out of total allocation in Anchor Investors category, 1/3rd of the total shares are reserved for allotment to domestic mutual fund houses.
SEBI has laid down some rules a company must follow while allotting shares under the anchor investment quota. Here are the IPO allotment rules applicable to anchor investors:
A company may allocate a maximum of 30% of the total issue size or 60% of the QIB quota to anchor investors.
The allocation of shares to anchor investors is at the discretion of the company. The issuing company in consultation with lead managers may decide on allotment to anchor investors subject to SEBI ICDR regulations.
In all public issues where the allotment to anchor investors is not more than Rs 10 cr, there can be a maximum of 2 anchor investors.
In issues where the reservation for anchor investors is more than Rs 10 crore but less than Rs 250 crore, a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 15 anchor investors can be allowed.
For IPOs exceeding the anchor size of more than Rs 250 crore, the number of anchor investors can go up to 25.
Since anchor investors bid for large amounts over Rs 10 crore, they play an important role in the share price discovery.
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Say an IPO opens for subscription from 19 April to 21 April so anchor investors bidding date will be 18 April.

Data Tables

Basis of difference	Qualified Institutional Bidders (QIBs)	Anchor Investors
Meaning	Banks, financial institutions, FIIs, FPIs, mutual fund companies, provident fund houses, insurance companies who are SEBI registered are referred to QIBs.	Not all the QIBs are anchor investors rather they are a part of QIBs, if they bid for atleast Rs 10 Crore.
IPO Bidding Amount or minimum investment	Minimum bidding amount is Rs 2 lakh for QIBs and NIIs. But the point of difference is QIBs are SEBI registered institutions while NIIs are non-registered investors.	IPO bid must exceed Rs 10 crore in mainboard IPO and in SME IPO, minimum anchor investment is Rs 2 crore.
IPO Reservation	IPO bid must exceed Rs 10 crore in mainboard IPO and in SME IPO, minimum anchor investment is Rs 2 crore.	30% of total issue size or 60% of QIB reservation can be allotted to anchor investors.
Lock-in	There is no lock-in period for qualified investors as they can sell their shares anytime on or after IPO listing.	Anchor investors cannot exit before 30 days after they receive shares allotment. After expiry of 30 days, they can sell 50% of their shareholdings and after 90 days of allotment, remaining 50% shares can be offloaded.

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