There are one or two misconceptions in this thread about what...

There are one or two misconceptions in this thread about what underwriters do. They effectively provide insurance to the company that they will place all stock at say 27. This insurance comes at a price sometimes up to 5% of the issue.

If they do not place the stock then they are left holding stock which they do not want to do as they are not fund managers. They are therefore left with an overhang of stock probably at around issue price.

BL underwriters therefore need to get the price higher than 27 so that the retail investors subscribe. Otherwise why would an investor buy the issue at 27 when they can buy it in the market at 27? It also signals that the price might go below the issue price. Expect the underwriters to support the price though I am suprised it reached 26.5. However the underwriters may still 'wear' this given a hefty underwriting fee.