Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) emerged as the biggest sellers among anchor investors , and heavy anchor exits were associated with sharp price pressure on IPO stocks around the 30-day unlock window, according to a Sebi study released on Tuesday.
The study, which covered 242 mainboard IPOs listed between April 2022 and October 2025, also found that smaller IPOs witnessed higher anchor exits.
The analysis found that IPOs in the highest anchor-exit intensity bucket, where more than 10 per cent of anchor holdings were sold, recorded an average price impact of minus 3.5 per cent during the T+29 to T+33 window.
The median price impact was sharper at around minus 6 per cent, with the interquartile range predominantly in negative territory.
FPIs recorded the highest average exit in this high-intensity selling bucket at 24.5 per cent of their anchor allotment, ahead of corporates at 23.1 per cent and Other QIBs at 21.6 per cent.
The price impact also worsened as selling intensity increased. It stood at around minus 1.3 per cent for IPOs, where 2.5-10 per cent of anchor holdings were sold, compared to minus 0.4 per cent where exits were up to 2.5 per cent.
The pressure, however, was largely muted by the 90-day unlock window, with all three exit-intensity buckets showing near-zero mean and median price changes.
The study also found that anchor investors' selling continued well beyond the prescribed lock-in periods, with aggregate weighted exit rising from 3.5 per cent at T+30 to 9.3 per cent at T+60, 18.5 per cent at T+90, 34.4 per cent at T+180 and 50.7 per cent by T+365.
This indicates that around half of the aggregate anchor allotment had been disposed of within a year, suggesting that the prescribed unlock windows capture only a portion of eventual anchor selling.
FPIs led the longer-term exits as well, selling around 60 per cent of their aggregate anchor allotment by T+365. They were followed by Body Corporates at 58 per cent, AIFs at 55 per cent and other QIBs at 46 per cent, while mutual funds recorded the lowest exit at 38 per cent.
In absolute terms, FPIs sold shares worth around Rs 22,474 crore by T+365, against an aggregate anchor allotment of Rs 37,491 crore.
The analysis also found that smaller IPOs witnessed higher anchor exits, with the Rs 0-250 crore issue-size category recording a 72.5 per cent exit by T+365, compared with 40.8 per cent for IPOs in the Rs 1,001-2,500 crore category.
The findings point to a temporary supply overhang from anchor selling, mainly around the first unlock window, even as the impact becomes muted at later stages.