Shriram appoints advisor for proposed IPO

Bangalore: Shriram Properties, arm of the Chennai-headquartered Shriram Group, has appointed Macquarie and Enam Financial Consultants as advisors for the proposed 500-700 crore initial public offering. In last one year, this would be the first time that any reality company is tapping the tepid IPO market. In Feb'08, Emaar MGF withdrew its public issue in the face of adverse market conditions.

Shriram Property has shown confidence to go public after the announcement of stimulus packages for the housing sector in the ensuing budget by central government and revival of economy in last few months

Private equity firms like Sun Apollo, Starwood Capital and Citigroup are investors in the 460 crore Shriram Properties. The promoter holds 80 percent. The company is expected to explore the IPO market around the third quarter of the current fiscal. The company is also open to the private placement route to raise capital if the IPO plan falls through.

Other than IPO market, Shriram is also close to 150 acres of land transaction valued at 400 crore with Bangalore-based Sobha Developers.

A company source said, "Shriram Properties, which is coining an aggressive foray into the affordable housing bracket (13-25 lakh homes), is keen to capture attractively-priced real estate assets in a distressed market."