Qualified institutional placement

A route for a listed Indian company to raise capital quickly by placing shares with institutional investors, without the documentation burden of a public offer.

Its appeal to companies is speed. Its consequence for existing shareholders is dilution at a price they had no chance to match, and the pricing formula is set by regulation rather than negotiation.

A pattern of repeated placements at successively lower prices is a company funding losses through the equity market, and each round takes more from the holders who came before.

Count the shares issued over five years, not the money raised.