Shri Bajrang Power & Ispat Ltd, a maker of long-steel products, has received regulatory nod to float an initial public offering (IPO).
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued final observations to Shri Bajrang Power’s proposed IPO on January 17, according to information published on the capital markets regulator’s website.
This makes Shri Bajrang Power the first company to receive regulatory clearance this year for an IPO. SEBI had cleared 28 IPO proposals last year, 72 in 2018 and 46 in 2017.
Shri Bajrang Power had filed its draft prospectus with SEBI on September 12 last year. The offering comprises a fresh issue of shares worth an estimated Rs 500 crore.
The company would use Rs 375 crore to repay debt and use an undisclosed amount for general corporate purposes.
IDBI Capital Markets & Securities, Equirus Capital and SBI Capital Markets are the merchant bankers managing the IPO.
Shri Bajrang Power makes steel products like TMT bars, sponge iron, pellets, steel billets and wire rods. It also makes ferro alloys and fly-ash bricks. The company, part of Bajrang Goel-led Goel Group, also generates hydroelectric power and operates a regional television channel.
Shri Bajrang Power joins a long list of companies preparing to go public as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s massive victory in the general elections in May last year appears to have revived investors’ confidence, shored up liquidity and drove institutional fund flows towards the stock markets.
IPO activity had slipped to a five-year low in 2019 owing to volatility in stock markets and thinning liquidity, but 2020 looks promising.