India's largest thyroid testing company Thyrocare Technologies Ltd and the third-largest microfinance firm Ujjivan Financial Services Ltd have received approval from capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India for their initial public offers (IPOs).
These two—both of them count CX Partners as an investor—add to the two dozen firms that are sitting on SEBI nod to go public. The sharp fall in the stock markets due to global headwinds, and concerns of bad loans of banks and its impact on Indian economy at large, has led some firms to scrap proposed issues. However, others have gone ahead and floated their IPOs.
Thyrocare
The proposed issue size is Rs 400 crore and the shares will be sold through the offer-for-sale route. VCCircle first reported the company's plan to file IPO papers on December 24.
Thyrocare CEO A Velumani will sell 1 per cent stake while PE investor CX Partners will offload 19 per cent of its 21 per cent stake in the IPO. Other investors Norwest Venture Partners, Emerging India Fund and Samara Capital will stay put with their holding.
JM Financial, Edelweiss and ICICI Securities are the investment bankers for the issue.
Sector rival Dr Lal PathLabs Ltd and drugmaker Alkem Laboratories Ltd made spectacular stock market debuts in December.
The IPO buzz continued in the new year with Narayana Hrudayalaya Pvt Ltd, the country's second-largest hospital chain by the number of operational beds, making a strong stock market debut too.
Oncology chain operator Healthcare Global Enterprises (HCG) had also received the market regulator's nod for its public float in November 2015 but has had to delay the proposed issue.
Early last month New Delhi Centre For Sight Pvt Ltd, which operates eye-care chain Centre For Sight, also got the SEBI nod for the IPO.
Ujjivan
Bengaluru-based microfinance firm Ujjivan is also seeking to go public and plans to raise up to Rs 650 crore through a fresh issue of shares besides giving part and full exits to several private investors.
In the proposed offer for sale, Elevar, IFC, Caspian, FMO and Sarva Capital are part-exiting while Women’s World Banking Capital Partners, Unitus and Wolfensohn Capital intend to sell their shares. CDC, IFC and CX Partners are the top three shareholders of the firm with 12.69 per cent, 11.84 per cent and 10.69 per cent equity stake, respectively.
Around 89 per cent stake of the firm is held by foreign investors, including overseas incorporated bodies.
It becomes the second MFI that is now set to go public behind Equitas. Interestingly, both Ujjivan and Equitas also have an in-principal nod from RBI to start small finance banks.
Ujjivan needs to reduce foreign shareholding to 49 per cent to comply with norms for the new niche set of banks.
It is the third-largest MFI in the country behind Bandhan and the sole public listed microlender SKS Microfinance.
For more dope on the Ujjivan IPO, click here.
