Over 30 Companies Heat Up IPO Mart

NEW DELHI: Have lined up plans to raise over Rs 20,000 crore via public offers. Heating up the IPO space, over 30 companies have lined up plans to raise funds totalling over Rs 20,000 crore through public offers, including big names like IndiGo, Cafe Coffee Day and Matrix Cellular.

At least 20 of these firms have already got the go-ahead from market regulator Sebi to launch their respective Initial Public Offers (IPOs), while draft IPO papers of five firms are currently “under process” but may be cleared soon. Three companies — Cafe Coffee Day, Matrix Cellular and RBL Bank — approached the regulator last week itself, while some others including IndiGo are expected to file their draft prospectus this week.

The flurry of activities in the IPO space follows stabilising trends in the stock markets and the companies are looking to raise funds to finance their business expansion and loan repayments and to meet the working capital requirements.

It also comes at a time when the regulator Sebi has announced a slew of fresh reforms in the IPO space, including for halving the listing period to six days and for making the application process for investors entirely cheque-free. A majority of the companies which have approached Sebi are mid-sized and are looking to mop up between Rs 200 crore to Rs 3,000 crore.