Understand how the issuance of new shares impacts existing shareholders and the company’s value.
Equity dilution occurs when a company issues additional shares, which increases the total number of shares in circulation. As a result, each shareholder’s percentage ownership in the company decreases, even though the value of their shares may remain the same. This is typically done to raise capital for expansion, acquisitions, or debt reduction.
Example: If a company has 1,000,000 shares outstanding, each priced at ₹150, its total market value is ₹150,000,000. If the company decides to issue 250,000 new shares at the same price, the total number of shares increases to 1,250,000. As a result, the ownership percentage of existing shareholders is diluted. A shareholder owning 10,000 shares would now own only 0.8% of the company (10,000/1,250,000 × 100), down from 1% before the new shares were issued. Even though the share price remains ₹150, their ownership stake is reduced.