ipo: Three companies file papers to raise Rs 7,500 cr as buzz returns to IPO market

Mumbai: The activity in the primary market has picked up of late boosted by the rebound in equities in the past two months. Go Digit General Insurance, Concord Biotech, an Ahmedabad-based firm backed by RARE Enterprises, and Kolkata-based Balaji Solutions have filed their draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), on Tuesday to launch initial public offerings. These three companies could collectively raise around ₹7,500 crore through IPOs.

While Prem Watsa’s Fairfax-backed Go Digit General Insurance’s IPO is expected to be of around ₹5,000 crore, Concord Biotech and Balaji Solutions are likely to raise ₹2,000 crore and ₹400 crore, respectively.

So far in 2022, about 63 companies have filed draft papers with Sebi, while 17 companies, including

, have raised about ₹41,140 crore from the IPOs. About 71 companies which have received Sebi approval are waiting for a better time to launch IPOs.

The public issue of Go Digit General Insurance, a digital full-stack non-life insurance company, consists of a fresh issue of shares worth up to ₹1,250 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of up to 10.94 crore shares by the promoter and shareholders.

In July last year, Digit, one of the first unicorns of 2021, had raised $200 million from existing as well as new investors Faering Capital, Sequoia Capital India and IIFL Alternate Asset Managers, at a valuation of $3.5 billion.

ICICI Securities, Morgan Stanley India Co,

, , and are the book managers for the IPO, according to the draft prospectus.

Digit may also consider taking a pre-IPO placement for a cash consideration of ₹250 crore. If the pre-IPO placement goes through, the company will reduce the offer size, it said.

The proceeds from its fresh issuance will be utilized for augmentation of the company’s capital base and maintenance of solvency levels, and general corporate purposes. FAL Corporation, part of Canada-based Fairfax Financial Holdings, owns a 45.25% stake in the company.

The IPO of Concord Biotech, a developer and manufacturer of select fermentation-based APIs across immunosuppressants and oncology, is an offer for sale of 2.09 crore shares by Helix Investment Holdings. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s family owned around a 24% stake in the company.

The company reported revenue from operations of ₹712.9 crore in FY22, a jump of 15.56% over the previous financial year.

Net profit declined 26% to ₹174.93 crore in FY22.

Kolkata-based Balaji Solutions, an IT hardware and mobile accessories companies engaged in manufacturing, branding, and distribution of products under the brand “Foxin,” has also filed its DRHP with Sebi to raise funds through an IPO. The offering consists of a fresh issue of equity shares worth up to ₹120 crore and an offer-for-sale of up to 75 lakh shares by the promoter and shareholders.

Last week. Balaji Speciality Chemicals, a

subsidiary, filed its DRHP with Sebi to launch an initial public offering.

The public issue consists of a fresh issue of shares worth up to ₹250 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of up to 2.6 crore shares by the promoter and shareholders.

The renewed buzz in the IPO market comes after almost a three-month gap of no activity. Due to a weak secondary market, no IPO was launched between May 26 and August 12. ₹Rs 840-crore IPO of engineering and design company Syrma SGS Technology – the first one after three months, was launched on August 12.