HDFC Asset Management Company Ltd, India’s second-largest mutual fund company by assets, and Visakhapatnam-based seafood firm Nekkanti Sea Foods Ltd have received regulatory clearance to float their respective initial public offerings (IPOs).
Capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued final observations to HDFC AMC and Nekkanti Sea Foods on 22 June. In all, 27 companies have been given the green light for IPOs this year.
As many as 46 firms had received clearance for IPOs in 2017, according to SEBI’s website.
HDFC AMC had filed its draft prospectus on 15 March. The public issue consists entirely of a secondary sale of 25.5 million shares by parent entity Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC), India’s largest mortgage lender, and its foreign joint venture partner Standard Life Investments Ltd.
HDFC owned a 57.36% stake in HDFC AMC as of September last year. UK’s Standard Life Investments Ltd held 38.24% stake while the remaining was held by key company officials.
The mortgage lender had kicked off the IPO process in November last year when it said it would pare 4% stake, or 8.59 million shares, in the IPO.
VCCircle reported last month that HDFC AMC’s proposal to go public had hit a snag as SEBI was examining ‘past violations’.
The AMC has appointed a dozen bankers to manage the share sale. Kotak Mahindra Capital Co, Axis Capital, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup Global Markets (India) and CLSA India form the syndicate, besides firms like HDFC Bank, ICICI Securities, IIFL Holdings, JM Financial, JP Morgan India, Morgan Stanley India, and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities India.
Nekkanti Sea Foods
Nekkanti, which processes and exports seafood, filed its draft proposal on 12 March.
Nekkanti’s issue comprises fresh shares worth Rs 250 crore besides a secondary sale of 8 million shares by promoters and other shareholders, according to its regulatory filing.
The estimated size of the IPO is Rs 700-750 crore (around $110 million), two people familiar with the development had told VCCircle.
VCCircle had first reported on March 5 that Nekkanti had roped in a merchant banker to help take it public.
Two other seafood processing and exporting firms -Visakhapatnam-based Sandhya Marines Ltd and Devi Sea Foods - recently filed their draft proposals to go public.
Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors Ltd is the sole merchant banker managing the IPO of Nekkanti Sea Foods.
