BackLavasa lets IPO approval lapse a second time
The company may refile IPO papers early next year even as it looks at other fund raising options
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Mumbai: Lavasa Corp. Ltd, the real estate arm of engineering company Hindustan Construction Co. Ltd (HCC), has let its initial public offering (IPO) approval lapse for a second time. On 10 November last year, the markets regulator approved Lavasa’s application to raise capital via a primary issue The company was looking to raise ₹ 750 crore to expand its real estate business.
Lavasa’s management had earlier said it would likely launch the IPO during the September quarter this fiscal year.
Axis Capital Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Capital Co Ltd and ICICI Securities Ltd were the bankers for the issuance.
An HCC spokesperson declined to comment.
This is the second time that Lavasa has failed to follow through on plans to go public. In 2010, Lavasa planned to raise ₹ 2,000 crore by selling 10% of the promoter stake, but the plans were abandoned due to market weakness. This time, too, weakness in the sentiment towards the real estate sector hit the company’s plans.
“The company never went on a stand-alone road show. They were pitching (the IPO) together with HCC’s QIP (qualified institutional placement) earlier this year but nothing more happened," said one of the bankers involved in the process, on condition of anonymity.
In April this year, HCC raised ₹ 400 crore through a QIP. The company launched the issuance at a 10% discount to its last traded price for ₹ 30.98 per share. HCC was the first infrastructure QIP to hit the stock market in 2015.
According to a second banker familiar with the development, the firm may refile IPO papers early next year even as it looks at other fund-raising options.
“The company is now contemplating either raising private equity funds or refiling (for an IPO)," said the second banker, who also requested anonymity.
According to data from Prime Database, so far this year, 18 firms have raised almost ₹ 11,000 crore through IPOs and more than 30 have filed draft IPO papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
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