Avanse Financial Services Ltd, an education loan provider that counts private equity firms Warburg Pincus and Kedaara Capital as its investors, has received regulatory approval for its initial public offering.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued its observations, which is akin to its approval, on Avanse’s IPO proposal on October 23, according to the capital markets regulator’s website.
The company, which is also backed by the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation, had filed its draft IPO papers on July 31 this year.
Avanse is looking to raise Rs 1,000 crore via a fresh issue of shares in the IPO, which also includes an offer for sale of Rs 2,500 crore.
Warburg Pincus is looking to harvest Rs 1,758 crore while Kedaara plans to pocket Rs 400 crore via the offer for sale. IFC intends to sell shares worth Rs 342 crore, VCCircle previously reported.
Avanse had also attracted the UAE sovereign wealth fund Mubadala as an investor earlier this year. Mubadala led a Rs 1,000 crore (about $120 million) round this March, valuing Avanse at Rs 8,757 crore.
The proposed IPO is at a markup to that valuation, and including the fresh issue, the lender would be eyeing at least a $1.2-billion valuation.
Warburg Pincus had bought a majority stake in Avanse five years ago from the Wadhawans of Dewan Housing Finance. This was via a Rs 1,000 crore deal with the erstwhile promoters and Rs 316 crore via a fresh infusion into the lender in 2022.
Apart from Avanse, NTPC Green Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of state-run power producer NTPC Ltd, also received the regulator’s nod to proceed with its planned Rs 10,000-crore IPO. The company had filed its IPO papers with SEBI on September 18.
