How PSX IPOs work: book building to CDS credit
Draft prospectus, book building and the strike price, public subscription, balloting, allotment and listing on PSX, with the live IPO pipeline as of 6 Sep 2026.
A PSX initial public offering moves through six stages: a draft prospectus posted on the PSX website for public comment, SECP approval, book building in which institutional and large bidders set a strike price, a public subscription at that price for everyone else, balloting and allotment if demand exceeds supply, and finally listing, when the allotted shares appear in your CDC account and trading begins. From draft prospectus to first trade typically takes eight to twelve weeks. As of 6 Sep 2026 the pipeline has one issue at strike-price stage (Agro Processors and Atmospheric Gases), one REIT in book building, and three companies at the draft-prospectus stage.
The stages, and where to read each one
Public offerings in Pakistan are governed by the SECP’s Public Offering Regulations and the PSX listing regulations. Every stage produces a notice on the PSX announcements page, which is the primary source for dates.
| Stage | What happens | Who acts | Where to read it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Draft prospectus | Document posted on psx.com.pk for public comment, usually for about a week | Issuer and its consultant | PSX notice “placement of draft prospectus” |
| Approval | SECP clears the prospectus; PSX grants in-principle listing approval | SECP, PSX | Final prospectus |
| Book building | Bids collected above a floor price; strike price set | Institutions, high-net-worth bidders | Book-building notice, then strike-price notice |
| Public subscription | Retail applies at the strike price, usually over two days | Anyone with a CDC account | Subscription notice |
| Balloting and allotment | If oversubscribed, computerised balloting; refunds to the unsuccessful | Issuer, banker to the issue, CDC | Subscription-result notice |
| Listing | Shares credited to CDS accounts; trading starts on a published date | PSX | Listing notice |
Not every “listing” notice on PSX is an IPO. The exchange also lists open-end mutual funds, REIT units, sukuk and SPACs through the same mechanism, and in 2026 the notices included Meezan and Atlas fund listings, JS Rental REIT, and the first two LSE SPACs. Read the title before assuming a listing notice means a company’s shares went on sale.
Book building and the strike price
Most sizeable PSX offerings use book building. The issuer sets a floor price in the prospectus. Over the book-building window, which is usually two days, bidders submit the price and quantity they are willing to buy at or above the floor through the PSX book-building system. Minimum bid amounts are set in the prospectus and are large enough that this stage is effectively institutional and high-net-worth territory.
Once bids close, the strike price is determined by Dutch auction: it is the lowest price at which the whole book-building portion is subscribed. Every successful bidder pays that one price, regardless of what they bid. The regulations cap how far above the floor the strike can go, so read the price band in the prospectus rather than assuming it is open-ended.
The split between the two tranches is also regulated. The book-building portion can be up to 75% of the offer, and at least 25% must be offered to the general public. If the public portion is undersubscribed, the shortfall is typically taken up by the book-building bidders or the underwriter.
A real timeline from the feed: Tasdeeq Information Services (TISL) placed its draft prospectus on 24 June 2026, held book building on 30 July, announced its public subscription result on 13 August, and listed on 20 August. Eight weeks, end to end. Wahdat Poultry Farm earlier in the year ran draft prospectus (13 March), book building (14 April), strike price (22 April), subscription result (4 May) and listing (6 May), a slightly longer cycle.
Public subscription: how retail applies
The public subscription opens a few days after the strike price is announced and runs for about two days. You apply at the strike price for a number of shares in the lot size stated in the prospectus. You need a CDC sub-account or Investor Account already open, because allotted shares are credited there; the CDC account guide covers setting one up.
There are three ways to apply. The most convenient is electronically through CDC’s Centralised e-IPO System, which takes the application and the payment in one step and needs a CDC Access registration. Several banks offer e-IPO through their internet banking as well. The older route is a paper application form submitted at a branch of a bank named in the prospectus, with payment attached. Brokers will also file on your behalf.
The application money leaves your account when you apply. If you are allotted fewer shares than you applied for, or none, the difference is refunded after balloting, generally within a couple of weeks. Plan cash accordingly; money tied up in an IPO application cannot be used to trade in the meantime.
Balloting, allotment, CDS credit and listing day
If applications exceed the public portion, allotment is by computerised balloting conducted under PSX supervision, with the result published as a notice. Some issues allot proportionally rather than by full ballot; the prospectus states which. Successful applicants have shares credited directly to the CDC account given on the application, before the listing date, so there is nothing to collect.
PSX then announces the listing date and the shares begin trading. First-day moves on PSX listings can be large in either direction, and the strike price is not a guarantee of anything after the first tick. The beginner’s guide to PSX has the general warnings on new positions; they apply doubly to a stock with no trading history.
The pipeline as of 6 Sep 2026
Equivest’s IPO feed reads PSX notices and groups them by company. Here is what was in it on 6 Sep 2026, excluding fund and sukuk listings.
| Company | Stage | Most recent notice |
|---|---|---|
| Agro Processors and Atmospheric Gases (APAG) | Strike price announced | 31 Aug 2026 (book building 19 Aug; draft prospectus 14 Jul) |
| Naya Nazimabad Apartment REIT | Book building | 25 Aug 2026 (draft offer for sale 6 Jul) |
| Aurion.AI | Draft prospectus for comment | 18 Aug 2026 |
| SE Fruits and Vegetable | Draft prospectus for comment | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Abhi Microfinance Bank | Draft prospectus for comment | 3 Aug 2026 |
Recently completed: Ghani Chemworld (GCWL) listed on 21 August 2026 with partially redeemable shares, Tasdeeq (TISL) on 20 August, LSE SPAC-II (SPAC2) and Select Technologies (SELECT) on 10 July, Service Long March Tyres (SLM) on 11 June, Sitara Petroleum Service (SPSL) on 20 May and Wahdat Poultry Farm (WAHDAT) on 6 May.
The APAG entry is the one at the decision point: with a strike price published on 31 August, the public subscription is the next event, and the subscription notice will carry the dates and the lot size.
What to read before you apply
The prospectus is long and most of it is boilerplate, but four sections deserve real attention. Use of proceeds tells you whether the money funds expansion or pays down debt or, in an offer for sale, goes to existing shareholders rather than the company. Risk factors are written by lawyers to cover the issuer, but the specific ones (a single large customer, a regulated tariff, a pending case) are real. Financial statements for the last three years show whether the growth story has numbers behind it. And lock-in terms show when sponsors are allowed to sell after listing.
Special structures need extra care. A REIT distributes rental income and is valued on property; a SPAC raises cash first and finds a business later, so you are backing sponsors rather than a company; partially redeemable shares have a repayment schedule baked in. None of these behaves like a normal operating company’s stock.
How Equivest helps
Equivest’s IPO tracker inside the app reads the same PSX notices, groups them by company, and shows each issue’s stage (draft prospectus, book building, strike price, subscription, listing) with the notice PDFs linked. You can record the bid you placed through your broker or e-IPO, with lots and price, so the committed cash shows against your portfolio; once the symbol lists and has a live price, the position appears alongside your other holdings. A home-screen reminder flags issues whose subscription opens within the week.
This is education, not investment advice.