Within a span of less than three months, two companies have withdrawn their initial public offerings, together worth over Rs 200 crore, amid sluggish investor sentiment.

Garments manufacturer Scotts Garments withdrew its public offer last week after failing to generate sufficient investor interest even after extending the duration of the issue and lowering the price band.

This was the second IPO to be withdrawn this year, after a failed attempt to raise funds through an IPO by Sai Silks (Kalamandir) Ltd in February. The company’s Rs 89-crore issue was withdrawn on February 18.

“Retail investors are mostly staying sidelines and are not participating in the stock market. Due to the sluggish retail demand, the IPO market is not picking up,” said Alex Mathews, Research Head, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

According to date available on the NSE, Scotts Garments’ IPO received bids for only 27 per cent of the 1.05-crore shares on offer. Retail investors had bid for six per cent of the 35.19 lakh shares reserved for them.

Non-institutional investors category was subscribed 39 per cent, while qualified institutional buyers’ portion received 36 per cent subscription and employees 23 per cent.

The company’s original issue period was from April 25-29. This was later extended to May 3. The price band, at which investors could bid, was cut from Rs 130-132 to Rs 118-120.

Last year, three firms — packaging materials maker Plastene India, healthcare firm Goodwill Hospital and auto parts manufacturer Samvardhana Motherson Finance, shelved their IPOs worth about Rs 1,805 crore.

Since 2010, as many as eight companies have withdrawn their public offers.

Still, quite a few companies, including Jyoti CNC Automation, BSCPL Infrastructure, Ortel Communications, Wonderla Holidays, NCML Industries and Advanced Enzyme Technologies, have filed their draft documents with the Securities and Exchange Board of India since the beginning of 2013 to raise funds through IPOs.

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