Reviewed on 24 Oct 2026 · Source: IPO Bulletin explainer; checked against SEBI (Merchant Bankers) Regulations and ICDR Regulations 2018
A lead manager, formally called a Book Running Lead Manager or BRLM, is the merchant banker or investment bank that manages the IPO process for the company. It must be registered with SEBI. Its work includes due diligence on the company, drafting the offer documents, filing them with SEBI, helping to set the price band, marketing the issue to institutions through roadshows, running the book, coordinating with the registrar and exchanges for allotment and refunds, and ensuring compliance until listing. A large issue usually has several lead managers, with one designated as the coordinator. The lead managers sign a due diligence certificate, so they carry legal responsibility for the accuracy of the disclosures, and SEBI can take action against them. They are paid a fee that is a percentage of the issue size. For investors, the track record of the lead manager is a useful quality check: look at how its earlier IPOs performed after listing and whether it had disciplinary issues. The names of the lead managers are on the first page of every RHP, and IPO Bulletin lists them on each IPO page along with the registrar and the contact details.
Example: A Rs 1,000 crore IPO appoints three BRLMs. One of them is the coordinator and handles filings with SEBI, while all three market the issue to institutional investors and sign due diligence certificates.
A price band is the range, with a lower limit (floor) and an upper limit (cap), within which investors may bid for shares in a book-built IPO. The company and its lead managers announce the band in the price band advertisement, usually a few working days before the issue opens, and the Red Herring Prospectus carries the same range. The final issue price is discovered through bidding and is fixed inside this range, so it can never be higher than the cap or lower than the floor. Under SEBI rules the cap should not exceed 120 percent of the floor price, which keeps the range reasonably tight. Retail investors normally bid at the cap or at the cut-off price so that their bid stays valid whatever the final price turns out to be. The band matters because it sets the maximum money you must keep blocked in your bank account: lot size multiplied by the cap price. Companies can revise the band during the issue, but that requires public notice and an extension of the bidding period by at least three working days. Fixed-price issues do not have a band; they have a single price.
Allotment is the step after an IPO closes in which the company decides who receives shares and how many. Once bidding ends, the registrar prepares the basis of allotment, which explains how the shares were shared between categories and applicants. If an issue is not oversubscribed in a category, most valid applicants get what they asked for. If it is oversubscribed, shares are rationed. In the retail category, successful applicants are chosen by a computerised lottery and each winner usually receives one lot, because the demand is far larger than the supply. Larger categories receive shares in proportion to their bids. After allotment, shares are credited to the demat accounts of successful applicants, and money for unsuccessful applications is released from the ASBA block. SEBI requires the whole process, from issue close to listing, to be completed within three working days. You can check your allotment status on the registrar's website using your application number, PAN or demat details, and on the exchange page for the issue.
Worked example
A Rs 1,000 crore IPO appoints three BRLMs. One of them is the coordinator and handles filings with SEBI, while all three market the issue to institutional investors and sign due diligence certificates.
