BackAhead of IPO, Laurus Labs sells shares for Rs395 crores to 25 anchor investors
Goldman Sachs, Nomura, Morgan Stanley, Tata AIA Life Insurance, Kotak Mutual Fund were among the investors who were allotted shares in the anchor allotment
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Mumbai: Hyderabad-based Laurus Labs Ltd, a research and development-driven pharmaceutical company, on Monday said it has raised Rs395.4 crore by selling shares to a group of 25 anchor investors including Goldman Sachs AMC, HBM Partners and the Nomura Trust and Banking Co. Ltd, ahead of its initial public offering (IPO).
Shares were allocated at Rs428, the upper end of the IPO price band of Rs426-428, the company wrote to stock exchanges.
The anchor book is the portion of the IPO which bankers can allot to institutional investors on a discretionary basis. Anchor book subscription opens a day before the launch of an IPO and acts as an indicator of institutional investor interest.
Goldman Sachs India Ltd, Nomura, Morgan Stanley Investment Holding Co. (Mauritius) Ltd, Tata AIA Life Insurance Co. Ltd, Kotak Mutual Fund, Eastspring Investments India Equity Open Ltd, DB International (Asia) Ltd, Government Pension Global Fund and UTI Asset Management Co. Ltd were among the investors who were allotted shares in the anchor allotment.
ALSO READ: Laurus Labs IPO set for 6 December launch at price band of Rs426-428
The three-day IPO opens on 6 December and closes on 8 December. Laurus Labs’s IPO comprises an issue of new shares and an offer for sale by Aptuit (Asia) Pvt. Ltd, Bluewater Investment Ltd, FIL Capital Management (Mauritius) Ltd and Fidelity India Principals.
At the lower end of the price band, the company is valued at 20.42 times its earnings in 2015-16, and 20.52 times at the upper end. Laurus Labs’s price-to-earnings ratio is slightly lower than its publicly traded peers, such as Divis Laboratories Ltd (valued at 29.16 times its earnings) and Aurobindo Pharma Ltd (valued at 22.89 times its earnings).
Advisers to the share sale are Kotak Mahindra Capital Co. Ltd, Citigroup Global Markets India Pvt. Ltd, Jefferies India Pvt. Ltd and SBI Capital Markets Ltd. The company plans to use the proceeds from the IPO for pre-payment of term loans and general corporate purposes, according to the share sale documents.
Laurus Labs makes active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for high-growth therapeutic areas such as antiretrovirals and Hepatitis C.
The company posted revenue of Rs1,791.4 crore in 2015-16 as against Rs1,360.7 crore in the year-ago period. Its net profit rose to Rs132.7 crore in FY16 from Rs68.4 crore in the previous fiscal, while operating margin was 21.2% in FY16 compared with 17.2% in FY15.
The drug maker has three manufacturing units in Visakhapatnam, of which two are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and the third is currently undergoing the US regulator’s inspection.
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