Realty major Lodha Developers is reviving its plans for an initial public offer (IPO) and will approach market regulator Sebi in the next 6-9 months with a draft prospectus, a top company official said.
The Mumbai-based company had filed draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with Sebi in September 2009 to raise about Rs 2,800 crore. The company got the Sebi nod in January 2010, but later shelved its plan to launch the IPO due to bad market conditions post the global financial crisis.
“We are aiming for listing in calendar year 2018 and shall approach Sebi in the next 6-9 months,” Lodha Group Managing Director Abhishek Lodha told PTI.
On funds to be raised through the IPO, he said it is too early to comment on the issue.
Lodha Group has about 30 real estate projects in London, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune and Hyderabad covering over 40 million sq ft of area. It has a land bank of 350 million sq ft for future development.
The group achieved a sales bookings of about Rs 8,500 crore last fiscal from both domestic market and London despite slowdown in the real estate market.
Earlier this month, Lodha had said it has achieved record sales bookings and collection of Rs 2,300 crore and Rs 2,600 crore, respectively, in the first quarter of 2017-18 fiscal.
The company launched two projects in the first quarter and plans to have 8-10 projects more by March next.
Lodha Developers invested Rs 1,100 crore on construction of ongoing projects during April-June and will invest over Rs 3,000 crore in the next three quarters.
The company reduced debt by Rs 400 crore during April- June period to Rs 14,500 crore for India business and targets to cut it further. Separately, the group has a debt of 300 million pounds.
In the UK property market, Lodha Group made an entry in 2013 with the acquisition of two prime sites in central London for an investment of about 400 million pounds.
The Lincoln Square project was launched last year and the second project No 1 Grosvenor Square, located in the heart of Mayfair, was launched last month.
Lodha UK is eyeing a sales revenue of 1.5 billion pounds (over Rs 12,000 crore) in the next three years from these two ongoing housing projects in central London.
Source: Press Trust of India