- Wednesday, May 01, 2024
By: Chandrashekar Bhat
HECTIC fundraising through initial public offerings (IPOs) will continue in India, with three firms set to launch their initial share-sales to collectively mop up about Rs 210 billion (£2.1 bn) from Monday (8).
One97 Communications, owner of Paytm; Sapphire Foods India, which operates KFC and Pizza Hut outlets; and Latent View Analytics are approaching the primary market.
This comes after five companies successfully concluded their IPOs last week.
Those five firms are – FSN E-Commerce Ventures, which runs online marketplace for beauty and wellness products Nykaa; Fino Payments Bank; Policybazaar parent entity PB Fintech; decorative aesthetics supplier SJS Enterprises; and microcrystalline cellulose maker Sigachi Industries.
The three-day IPOs of Paytm, Sapphire Foods India and Latent View Analytics are scheduled to open on November 8, November 9 and November 10, respectively.
So far in 2021, as many as 46 companies have floated their IPOs to raise Rs 801 bn (£8 bn) and market experts believe that the year should close with the Rs 1 trillion (£9.98 bn) primary market fundraising.
Apart from these, PowerGrid InvIT, the infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) sponsored by the Power Grid Corporation of India, mopped up Rs 77.3 bn (£770 million) through its IPO, and Brookfield India Real Estate Trust raised Rs 38 bn (£380m) via its initial share-sale.
The fundraising so far this year is way higher than Rs 266 bn (2.6 bn) collected by 15 companies through initial share-sales in the entire 2020.
Such impressive fundraising through IPOs was last seen in 2017 when firms mobilised Rs 671 bn (£6.7 bn) through 36 initial share-sales.
Digital firm One97 Communications, which operates under the Paytm brand name, is set to come out with its Rs 183-billion (£1.83 bn) IPO on Monday (8). The IPO comprises fresh issuance of equity shares worth Rs 83 bn (£830m) and Rs 100 bn (£1 bn) from an offer for sale (OFS) by existing shareholders.
The company has fixed a price band of Rs 2,080-2,150 (£2.77-21.47) apiece, implying a valuation of around Rs 1.48 trillion (£14.7 bn). The Rs 18.3-bn (£180m) offer, if successful, will be the biggest in the country after Coal India’s IPO in 2010, wherein the state-owned company had garnered Rs 152 bn (£1.52 bn).
“The biggest merit for Paytm’s IPO would be that they have so much more diversified regulatory access under one roof. This focus on diversification means that none of their particular business books has depth, unlike other major players who focus more on specialising,” Nikhil Kamath, co-founder of True Beacon and Zerodha, said.
On Wednesday (3), Paytm raised Rs 82.3 bn (£820m) from anchor investors. Sapphire Foods India’s public issue will be entirely an offer of sale (OFS) of 17.5m equity shares by promoters and existing shareholders.
As part of the OFS, QSR Management Trust will sell about 850,000 shares, Sapphire Foods Mauritius Ltd will offload 5.56 million shares, WWD Ruby Ltd will divest 4.8 million shares and Amethyst will offer 3.96 million shares.
In addition, AAJV Investment Trust will sell 80,169 shares, Edelweiss Crossover Opportunities Fund will offload 1.6 million shares and Edelweiss Crossover Opportunities Fund-Series II will divest about 646,000 shares. The company has fixed a price band of Rs 1,120-1,180 (£11.18-11.78) a share for its IPO. At the upper end of the price band, the initial public offering is expected to fetch Rs 20.73 bn (£210).
Latent View Analytics’ IPO comprises a fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 4.74 bn (£47m) and an offer of sale of equity shares to the tune of Rs 1.26 bn (£13m) by a promoter and existing shareholders.
The company has set a price band of Rs 190-197 (£1.9-1.97) a share for its IPO. The proceeds from the fresh issue will be used for funding inorganic growth initiatives, working capital requirements of the subsidiary LatentView Analytics Corporation, and investment in subsidiaries to augment their capital base for future growth and general corporate purposes.
The company provides services ranging from data and analytics consulting to business analytics and insights, advanced predictive analytics, data engineering and digital solutions.
(PTI)
