NEW DELHI: Leading real estate firm Lodha Developers plans to hit the capital market this month with its initial public offer (IPO) to raise about Rs 5,500 crore, according to market sources.
The Mumbai-based developer had on July 6 received markets regulator Sebi’s go-ahead for the IPO.
Reviving its IPO plan after eight years, the company had in April filed the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Sebi seeking approval to float an initial share-sale.
Lodha’s IPO, if successful, would be the second biggest IPO in the real estate sector after DLF that raised close to Rs 9,200 crore in 2007.
A company spokesperson declined to comment on the IPO launch date.
This would be the second attempt by Lodha Developers to launch a public issue and list its shares on the stock exchanges. The company had filed its DRHP in September 2009 to raise about Rs 2,800 crore. It had received Sebi’s nod in January 2010, but later shelved the plan due to unfavourable market conditions post the global financial crisis.
According to the latest DRHP filed by Lodha, the company will issue fresh shares worth up to Rs 3,750 crore. The promoters will sell up to 1.8 crore shares through the Offer For Sale (OFS) route.
Sources had earlier said the total proceeds are estimated at about Rs 5,500 crore through the fresh issue as well as OFS. The company is also considering a pre-IPO placement of up to 95 lakh equity shares for cash consideration aggregating up to Rs 750 crore, the document said.
From the net proceeds of fresh issue of shares, Lodha would utilise Rs 3,300 crore to retire its debt.
The company had an outstanding debt of nearly Rs 18,000 crore as of January-end this year.
The global coordinators of the IPO are Kotak Mahindra Capital, CLSA India, JM Financial and Morgan Stanley India.
The privately-held Lodha Group, which was founded in 1995 by Mangal Prabhat Lodha, had completed projects with developable area of 50.49 million sq ft till December last year.
The company has 37 ongoing projects, of which 35 are in India and two in London. These projects account for a developable area of 33.80 million sq ft, bulk of it in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
The group had forayed into the London realty market in 2013 and acquired two prime sites in central London for an investment of about 400 million pounds.
Lodha UK is eyeing a sales revenue of 1.5 billion pounds (over Rs 12,000 crore) from two ongoing housing projects in central London.
Source: Press Trust of India