Over 30 Companies Heat Up IPO Mart

In the first six months of 2015, as many as 19 companies have filed their draft documents with Sebi to float their respective IPOs. In the same period, the capital markets watchdog has given approval to 20 firms to launch their initial share sale plans, some of which were pending from the previous year.

At the last count, just five IPO draft papers were pending with Sebi for its ‘observations’ which are mandatory for any public issue to hit the market. So far in 2015, eight companies have launched their IPOs and have collectively raised nearly Rs 4,000 crore. In comparison, a total of six IPOs had hit the market in the entire 2014 and together garnered just Rs 1,528 crore.

Among the forthcoming IPOs, Indigo is eyeing Rs 2,500 crore, coffee shop chain operator Coffee Day Enterprises plans to raise Rs 1,150 crore, RBL Bank (formerly known as Ratnakar Bank) plans to mop up atleast Rs 1,100 crore and Biocon’s arm Syngene International is looking to raise an estimated Rs 600 crore. Others in the queue include fragrance maker S H Kelkar and company and infrastructure firm Dilip Buildcon, Amar Ujala Publications — which publishes Hindi daily Amar Ujala, Kalpataru Power Transmission’s subsidiary Shree Shubham Logistics, Prabhat Dairy, Catholic Syrian Bank and Nuziveedu Seeds.

Sebi, last week, approved norms for firms to launch their IPOs in an electronic form, which is aimed at reducing the time taken between share sale and listing to six days from the current 12 days, enhance the reach of retail investors and reduce costs.