Hinduja Group-owned commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland Ltd is planning to sell a minority stake in its UK electric vehicles subsidiary, a media report said.
Ashok Leyland is looking to raise $200-300 million (Rs 1,470-2,200 crore) by selling a stake in Switch Mobility, The Economic Times reported, citing people aware of the matter.
The company has sent feelers to sovereign wealth funds Mubadala Investment Company, Qatar Investment Authority, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. It has also reached out to Google parent Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp and SoftBank Group, the report said.
Switch Mobility was earlier known as Optare Group. It was renamed last month as part of a plan by Ashok Leyland to bring its entire EV portfolio of buses, light commercial vehicles and battery infrastructure under the UK company.
Ashok Leyland owns a 91.6% stake in Switch while the Hinduja family’s investment holding company owns the rest.
Meanwhile, defence equipment maker MTAR Technologies Pvt. Ltd is planning to file its draft prospectus for an initial public offering in the coming week, Mint reported, citing two people aware of the matter.
The total IPO size could be around Rs 650 crore, the report said. This will comprise an issue of fresh shares by the Hyderabad-based engineering company and an offer for sale by its investor Mathew Cyriac, the report said.
Cyriac, the former India private equity co-head of Blackstone, holds a 33% stake in MTAR, the report said. Cyriac had floated Florintree Advisors, an alternative investment firm, after quitting the PE firm in 2017.
MTAR has hired the investment banking arms of JM Financial and IIFL to advise on the IPO, the report said.
In another report, Mint said that Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences Ltd (KIMS) is also gearing up for an IPO and that private equity firm General Atlantic plans to pare its stake in the hospital chain.
Citing three people aware of the matter, the report said the IPO size could be up to Rs 800 crore.
General Atlantic had invested $130 million in KIMS in 2018. This involved a fresh capital infusion and a purchase of shares from ICICI Venture.
This is the second time that KIMS is planning to go public. It had in 2017 filed draft IPO papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India to let ICICI Venture exit. However, that plan didn’t materialise and ICICI Venture later sold its stake to General Atlantic.
