Private equity firm ADV Partners-backed appliances maker Amber Enterprises (India) Ltd has received the approval from Securities and Exchange Board of India to float an initial public offering.
The capital markets regulator issued its final observations regarding Amber’s IPO on 5 December. The Gurgaon-based white goods maker was the forty-third company in 2017 to have received the SEBI nod for an IPO.
In June, VCCircle had reported that Amber had firmed up its plans to float an IPO next year and had finalised merchant bankers for it.
The company had filed its draft prospectus with SEBI on 29 September.
The proposed Rs 555-crore IPO will comprise a fresh issue of shares worth Rs 450 crore and a sale of shares by promoters Jasbir and Dalgit Singh.
Amber will use Rs 345 crore of the net proceeds towards repayment and advance payments of its loans. The rest will be spent for general corporate purposes.
Edelweiss Financial Services, IDFC Bank, SBI Capital Markets and BNP Paribas are the merchant bankers managing the IPO.
Amber Enterprises
The company, which manufactures air-conditioners, microwave ovens and refrigerators components, besides other consumer durable products, services both global and domestic players, including Videocon, John Deere, Swaraj Mazda, Godrej, Whirpool, Blue Star, Philips and Voltas.
The group also runs Amber Aviation, which operates aircraft charters and provides commercial pilot training.
In 2015, Amber’s promoters also entered the off-grid solar power generation sector in partnership with Silicon Valley-based Twin Creeks Technologies.
Amber serves eight of the top 10 room air-conditioner brands in India and counts Daikin, Hitachi, LG, Panasonic, Voltas and Whirlpool as its key customers. It claims a market share of 55.4% in this category by volume for the year ended March 2017.
The company was founded in 1994 with one factory in Punjab. Today, it operates nine manufacturing units across seven locations. The company was set up by Kartar Singh and is now managed by his sons Jasbir and Daljit.
Between 2012 and 2013, Fairwinds Private Equity, formerly Reliance Equity Advisors India Ltd, had pumped in $12.6 million (Rs 110 crore) for a 34% equity stake in Amber. In January 2017, ADV Partners had picked up the entire stake of Fairwinds.
In 2011, Amber had raised Rs 30 crore from IFCI Venture Capital’s Green India Venture Fund via compulsory convertible debentures. The deal gave Amber’s promoter group buyback rights to the extent of 60% of the stake acquired by IFCI Venture Capital at an annualised return of 20%.