Indian IPO Updates

TCG Lifesciences IPO

2007-10-03T16:54:00.000-09:00

CG Lifesciences has filed papers with the Securities & Exchange Board of India for initial public offering. The company proposes to issue 95 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each at a price to be decided through 100 per cent book-building process. It is also considering a pre-IPO placement of up to 15 lakh shares with certain investors.

Net public issue of 9 lakh shares will constitute 13.65 per cent of the fully diluted post issue paid-up capital.

TCG Lifesciences plans to raise over Rs 150 crore to finance capital expenditure, finance capital investments in subsidiaries and repay debt.

The company offers solutions in discovery research, translational research, clinical development and enterprise informatics to the global life sciences industry.

Promoted by Dr Purnendu Chatterjee and TCG Lifesciences Mauritius with operations in India, the UK and US, its facilities are located at Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune, New Jersey and High Wycombe.

The equity shares are proposed to be listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange.

Kotak Mahindra Capital and Enam Securities are book running lead managers to the issue.

Maytas Infra IPO subscribed 5.73 times

2007-10-03T16:53:00.001-09:00

The initial public offer of Infrastructure development firm Maytas Infra got subscribed 5.73 times on the fourth day of its issue.

A total of 5.06 crore bids were received for 8.85 lakh shares on offer, latest data available on the stock exchanges show.

Maytas had fixed the price-band at Rs 320 to Rs 370 a share and expects to raise about Rs 327 crore from the issue.

The portion reserved for Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIBs) got subscribed 9.35 times, while the Retail Individual Investors (RIIs) section and the Non-Institutional Investors segment got marginally subscribed.
The issue would close tomorrow. The company plans to use the proceeds towards various built-operate-transfer (BOT) projects that are under development.

Out of the total proceeds from the issue, the company would use Rs 27.7 crore in the Bangalore-Hosur elevated expressway, Rs 127 crore in the 300 MW coal-based KVK Nilachal power project in Orissa and Rs 34.25 crore in the 56 MW coal washery reject-based SV power plant and 2.5 million MT per annum coal washery at Korba in Chhattisgarh.

It would utilise Rs 33.29 crore for buying construction equipments, while the remaining amount would be kept for other projects and capex purpose.

Tata Technologies IPO next year

2007-10-03T16:52:00.001-09:00

TATA group’s engineering arm Tata Technologies plans to tap the capital market next year to raise funds in what could be the first initial public offer by a group company since IT firm TCS.

“We are looking to list Tata Technologies in Indian market through an IPO in 2008,” David Myers, the chief financial officer of UK-based INCAT, a Tata Technologies company, said on Wednesday. The funds would be used to repay some of the debt and for future expansion programmes, Mr Myers said.

Asked how much it was looking to raise from the IPO, Myers said these details would be worked out in due course. “But our aim today is to list the company by the end of next year,” he said.

The public offer could be the first by a Tata group firm since TCS in 2004, India’s biggest software exporter and the most-valued group firm on Indian stock exchanges. TCS had raised around Rs 5,400 crore.

The Tata group comprises close to 100 companies, of which about 30 are listed on the bourses. Tata Technologies had acquired INCAT in October 2005. The INCAT brand was retained as it was already established in the UK and other European markets, Mr Myers said.

Reliance Power to offload 10.1% stake via IPO

2007-10-03T16:50:00.000-09:00

Reliance Power (RPL), part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG) company, will offload a 10.1% stake in the proposed initial public offering (IPO). According to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) filed by RPL with the stock market regulator SEBI on Wednesday, the IPO will comprise 130-crore equity shares of Rs 2 each for cash at a premium to be decided through a 100% book building process.

The proceeds of the issue are proposed to be utilised for funding various projects. Reliance Power, currently a subsidiary of Reliance Energy (REL), has got two projects under its fold — a 4,000 mw Sasan ultra mega power project and a 1,200 mw Rosa project.

On Wednesday, the share price of REL moved up 7.5% to close at Rs 1450.40 on BSE. The public issue includes promoters’ contribution of 16 crore shares, and the balance 114 crore shares would constitute the net issue to the public. The issue will constitute 11.5%, and the net issue will constitute 10.1% of the post-issue paid-up equity capital of the company.

“At least 60% of the net issue to the public will be allotted on a proportionate basis to qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), of which 5% will be available for mutual funds. Around 30% of the net issue will be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to the retail individual bidders and 10% will be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to non-institutional bidders,” RPL said in a statement.

The equity shares of the company are proposed to be listed on BSE and NSE. Kotak Mahindra Capital, UBS Securities India, ABN Amro Securities (India), Deutsche Equities India, Enam Securities, ICICI Securities, JM Financial Consultants and JP Morgan India are acting as the book running lead managers to the issue.

MIC Electronics IPO opens for subscription

2007-04-30T09:58:00.000-09:00

MIC Electronics, the Hyderabad-based ISO 9000:2000 certified company, engaged in the design and manufacture of True Colour LED video display systems, is open for subscription with an initial public offer (IPO) of 5,100,000 equity shares of Rs 10 for cash at a price to be decided through the 100% book-building process for listing on both Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange.

The price band for the offer has been fixed between Rs 129 and Rs 150 per equity share for IPO closing on May 8, 2007. The public offer constitutes 25.34% of the company’s fully diluted post issue paid up equity capital.

Upto 50% of the issue will be allocated on a proportionate basis to the qualified institutional buyers, of which 5% of the issue will be available for allocation to mutual funds. Further, 15% of the issue will be available for non-institutional bidders and 35% of the issue will be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to the retail individual bidders.

MIC Electronics has three divisions — Media, Info-Tech, Communications and Electronics. It is engaged in the design, development and production of True Colour LED video Display Systems, telecom software solutions and communication equipment such as Digital Loop Carrier on optical fibre including voice, video/data applications, and Hand Held Computers. MIC is the only Company in India to have the “Design-to-Manufacture” capability for the manufacture of LED Video Display Systems.

The unconsolidated total income, of the company for the 6 months ended December 31, 2006, was Rs 654.56 million and net profit after tax was Rs 108.91 million. During the year ended June 30, 2006, the total income posted was Rs 1,044.12 million while the net profit after tax was Rs 154.76 million. MIC has a confirmed order book of worth Rs 1678.55 million as on December 31, 2006.

The sole book running lead manager to the issue is Edelweiss Capital.

SBH to go public after September

2007-04-30T09:57:00.000-09:00

State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH), the largest associate bank of State Bank of India (SBI), intends go public after September 2007. The issue size is still undecided at this stage.

SBI holds 100% in SBH, which is preparing the groundwork for the proposed public issue in anticipation that the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Bank Laws) Amendment Bill will get Parliament clearance soon.

The cabinet has already given in-principle clearance. SBI has seven associate banks. All will stand to benefit once the Bill is enacted in Parliament. This will allow the seven associate banks to split their shares with face value of Rs 100 each to Rs 10 each.

That will also remove the present cap on individual shareholding limit of 200 shares in these banks. The stock-split exercise will improve shareholder value in these banks. At present, four of the seven associate banks — SBH, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Saurashtra and State Bank of Indore — are unlisted. On the other hand, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur are listed.

Following the stock-split exercise, SBH may also issue bonus shares to its parent to improve valuation of the shares before the IPO. SBH managing director Amitabha Guha refused to comment on the possibility of a bonus issue. He, however, admitted that the possibility for an IPO is brighter by several notches. “If the market remains favourable, we plan to go public around October 2007. The book value of SBH is currently at Rs 14,900 crore,” Guha said.

It is, however, still undecided how far SBI will dilute its holding in SBH. SBI is also likely to dilute its holding in State Bank of Patiala soon. The dilution of share in two of the associate banks will unlock huge value for SBI. The seven associate banks have a combined business of Rs 3.42 lakh crore. And SBH alone had a business mix (deposits and advances) of Rs 71,400 crore as on March 31, 2007.

SBH is aiming at 25% business growth for 2007-08. The bank is well capitalised with 12.5% capital adequacy ratio. “This fiscal, we have the option of raising Rs a total of Rs 1,000 crore by way of subordinated and perpetual bonds,” Guha said, reports The Economic Times.

ICICI Bank to raise Rs 20,000 crore

2007-04-30T09:50:00.000-09:00

The country’s largest private sector player, ICICI Bank has decided to raise fresh equity capital to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore via issuances, both in the domestic market and by issue of American Depository Shares (ADS) in the international market. This will be the largest follow-on public issue in the country.

The board of directors of the bank approved the raising of capital at the meeting held on Saturday. The bank plans to raise up to Rs 15,000 crore through the ADS issue, while around Rs 5,000 crore will be raised through a follow-on public offer in the domestic market, of which 50% will be kept open for subscription from retail investors. The IPO process is expected to kick off on Monday. “The issue is likely to hit the market by June 2007. The bank may look at greenshoe options going forward, if required,” said K V Kamath, the bank’s MD and CEO.

However, the raising of fresh equity capital will be subjected to an approval from the shareholders. The issuance is likely to offload up to 20% of the bank’s stake. Kalpana Morparia, the bank’s joint managing director, said, “The banking system is likely to witness 20-25% growth in credit during the current financial year. The new guidelines for capital adequacy released by the Central bank, coupled with strong demand for credit from the corporate sector necessitates that the bank adopts a proactive approach towards capital raising activities.”

This apart, the bank also plans to utilise the proceeds of the issuances for catering to demand from the rural markets also. Morparia pointed out that the funds mobilised through these issuances should take care of the bank’s funding requirements at least for the next two-three years.

In another development, the bank’s board of directors also approved the elevation of Madhabi Puri Buch to the post of an executive director. The board also took into account the results of the bank for the year ended March 2007. The bank reported a 4% growth in its net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2007, as it was hit by a one-time charge of Rs 310 crore towards general provisioning norms proposed by the central bank in January 2007.

In its quarterly policy review in January 2007, the RBI had raised the provisioning requirement for standard assets in the real estate sector, outstanding credit card receivables, loans and advances qualifying as capital market exposure and personal loans to 2%, reports The Economic Times.

GSS America Infotech files DRHP with SEBI

2007-04-27T08:41:00.002-09:00

GSS America Infotech, a leading Global IT Services company focused on providing scalable and cost-effective solutions using global delivery model, has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to enter the capital market with an initial public offering, IPO of equity shares.

The company proposes to offer 34,97,495 equity shares of Rs 10 each. The issue comprises of a net issue of 33,40,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each to the public and up to 1,57,495 equity shares of Rs 10 each will be reserved for subscription by eligible employees. The issue will constitute 26.30% of the post-issue capital of the company. The issue is being made through a 100% book building process.

GSS America has been making exponential progress over the last four years. The company has achieved a turnover of Rs 116 crore for the first nine months ending December 31, 2006 as compared to Rs 63 crore achieved for the full financial year 2005-2006. The company has been growing at over 160% compared to previous year.

GSS America Infotech is planning to invest in a 1,000-seater offshore facility with a capital outlay of about Rs 61 crore in Hyderabad. To finance its expansion plans - both organic and inorganic, the company is planning to raise about Rs 120 crore from the capital market.

GSS America is a niche player in the area of Enterprise Application Integration and Infrastructure Management Services.

GSS America has recently placed its equity on a pre-IPO basis to leading Financial and Venture Capital Institutions like IL&FS and other private investors to the extent of Rs 35 crore.

Binani Cement fixes IPO price band at 75-85; opens on May 7

2007-04-27T08:41:00.001-09:00

Binani Cement, a subsidiary of Binani Industries (BIL), promoted by Braj Binani is entering the capital markets with a public offer of 20,500,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash, through an offer for sale by JP Morgan Special Situations.

The offer shall be through the 100% book – building process. The price band for the offer has been fixed between Rs 75 and Rs 85 per equity share. The public offer opens on May 7, 2007, and closes for subscription on May 10, 2007. The offer shall constitute 10.09% of the post-offer paid-up capital of the company.

The equity shares are proposed to be listed on the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange.

At least 60% of the offer will be allocated on a proportionate basis to qualified institutional buyers (QIBs). Also, 5% of the QIB portion shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to mutual funds only, and the remainder of the QIB portion shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to all QIB Bidders, including mutual funds, subject to valid bids being received at or above the offer price.

Upto 30% of the offer shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to the retail individual bidders and upto 10% of the offer shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to non-institutional bidders, subject to valid bids being received at or above the offer price.

It is focused on key markets in northern India with a significant presence in Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi besides Gujarat in Western India. It has facilities for manufacture of 2.25 MTPA of cement which has now been enhanced to 5.3 MTPA at Sirohi, Rajasthan. It manufactures OPC and PPC, with an OPC: PPC product mix of about 71:29 in fiscal 2005, 63:37 during fiscal 2006 and 51:49 for fiscal 2007. The Sirohi facility has been set up with the support of the Denmark-based F. L. Smidth.

The company has increased the clinker capacity at its plant by 2.3 MTPA, with commercial production of the cement capacity expected to commence from May 2007. It is adding another 44.6 MW (2 X 22.3 MW) captive power plant to the existing 25 MW coal / lignite based plant with one unit of 22.3 MW expected to be commissioned by June 2007 and another by October 2007. The total cost of the expansion project is estimated at Rs. 5,750 million (including the second unit of the captive power plant to be installed by October 2007 at a cost of Rs. 600 million).

The company posted a total income of Rs 5,665 million and a profit before tax of Rs 1097 million for the nine months ended December 31, 2006. It posted a total income of Rs 5,840 million and a profit before tax of Rs 581 million for the year ended March 31, 2006.

The book running lead manager to the issue is ICICI Securities Primary Dealership and the co-book running lead manager is J P Morgan India Private Limited.

Sebi cracks a new IPO scam

2007-04-27T08:40:00.000-09:00

The capital market regulator has unearthed a new scam in the IPO market. A few years ago, the new-issue market was rattled by the infamous Roopalben Panchal case, which involved an elaborate scheme to corner share allotment. This time round, it’s a game of price manipulation.

The plot is surprisingly simple. A handful of operators ensure that stock prices shoot up and stay high on the day of listing, as also over the next few trading sessions. The intent is perhaps to corner a chunk of shares intended for retail investors and sell them when demand shoots up.

The regulator, meanwhile, has booked five traders and two brokerages in connection with order book manipulation on the day of listing of securities. The stocks manipulated on the day of listing are Mindtree Consulting, Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision, Pyramid Saimira, Pochiraju Industries, Cambridge Technologies and Al Champdany Industries (which was transferred to the BSE from the Calcutta Stock Exchange).

The traders booked by Sebi are Latesh Chheda, Viren Kenia, Bhavin Chheda, Chetan Rathod, Dhiren Pajwani while the brokers pulled up are Neptune Fincot and RSS Investment. They have been ordered to “desist from dealing in shares, directly or indirectly, on the day of listing any securities till further directions in this regard”.

The regulator has also warned brokerages Maniput Investments, Magnum Equity Broking and Prashant Jayantilal Patel for allowing some of these operators to trade through them. Pochiraju was listed at a premium of 63% (Rs 45), Mindtree at 60% (Rs 620), Asthavinayak at 18% (Rs 189), Pyramid at 35% (Rs 135), Cambridge at 28.6% (Rs 48.90).

After investigating the listing pattern, Sebi found out that the “dramatic upsurges on the day of listing of securities or soon thereafter” are driven by trades meant to be executed.

In its investigation, Sebi has observed that certain entities have placed an abnormally large share orders at prices far below the prevailing market rates. The intention of placing such orders was, therefore, not genuine trading but only artificial enhancement of demand, which constitutes a manipulative practice, reports The Economic Times.

Fortis Healthcare fixes its offer price at Rs 108

2007-04-26T09:21:00.000-09:00

Fortis Healthcare (the "Company"), one of the largest private healthcare companies in India* and a Ranbaxy promoter group company, has fixed the Issue price at Rs 108 per equity share for its initial public offer (IPO) of 45,996,439 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash at a premium decided through a 100% book building process. The Company proposes to allot 242,476 equity shares to eligible employees under the firm allotment portion. The price band for the Issue was fixed between Rs 92 and Rs 110 per equity share.

The Issue opened for subscription on April 16, 2007 and closed on April 20, 2007. The Issue was oversubscribed 2.78 times (with the QIB portion being oversubscribed 2.72 times, the non-Institutional portion being oversubscribed 1.74 times and the Retail portion being oversubscribed 3.26 times). The Net Issue is expected to constitute 20.19% of the post-Issue paid-up Equity Share capital of the Company. The Equity Shares are proposed to be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange Limited ("BSE") and the National Stock Exchange of India ("NSE").

Mr. Shivinder Mohan Singh, Managing Director, Fortis Healthcare Limited, said, "We are very happy with the response to the IPO. We have received over 1.2 lakh applications and I thank all investors for their confidence in our Company's future."

The Book Running Lead Managers to the Issue are J M Morgan Stanley Private Limited, Citigroup Global Markets India Private Limited and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited.

Bhagwati Banquets IPO subscribed 1.83 times

2007-04-25T08:42:00.000-09:00

Bhagwati Banquets and Hotels is open for subscription with an IPO to raise around Rs 92 crore at the upper end of the price band of Rs 36-40 per share. The proceeds will part-finance setting up of a 100-room five star banquet hotel in Surat, Gujarat.

Public issue has been subscribed fully with 3.36 crore bids against its issue size of 1.84 crore shares and more than 1.92 crore bids at cut off price.

Bhagwati IPO was subscribed 1.83 times, till 5 pm, as per NSE website.

The company will issue 2.3 crore equity shares, of which 1.85 crore equity shares, will be for the public.

At least, 50% of the net issue to the public shall be allotted on a proportionate basis to qualified institutional buyers.

Further, 15% of the net issue shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to non-institutional bidders, while 35% of the net issue to the public shall be for allocation on a proportionate basis to retail bidders.

Chartered Capital & Investments is the book running lead manager to the issue

MIC Electronics sets IPO price band at Rs 129-150

2007-04-25T08:41:00.000-09:00

MIC Electronics, the Hyderabad-based ISO 9000:2000 certified company, engaged in the design and manufacture of True Colour LED video display systems, is entering the capital market with an initial public offer (IPO) of 5,100,000 equity shares of Rs 10 for cash at a price to be decided through the 100% book-building process for listing on both Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange.

The price band for the offer has been fixed between Rs 129 and Rs 150 per equity share for IPO opening on April 30, 2007, and closing on May 8, 2007. The public offer constitutes 25.34% of the company’s fully diluted post issue paid up equity capital.

Upto 50% of the issue will be allocated on a proportionate basis to the qualified institutional buyers, of which 5% of the issue will be available for allocation to mutual funds. Further, 15% of the issue will be available for non-institutional bidders and 35% of the issue will be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to the retail individual bidders.

M V Ramana Rao, MD, MIC Electronics, said, “The objects of the issue includes setting up additional facilities for manufacturing LED (Light Emitting Diodes) video modules and acquisition of Infostep Inc., in USA.” He added, “MIC has a presence in the LED display market internationally, with a customer base including the advertising agencies, LED rental companies, telecom equipment spenders BSNL and MTNL. MIC is now further strengthening its footprint internationally.” The Company has recently secured an order of Rs 1049 million from BSNL.

MIC Electronics has three divisions — Media, Info-Tech, Communications and Electronics. It is engaged in the design, development and production of True Colour LED video Display Systems, telecom software solutions and communication equipment such as Digital Loop Carrier on optical fibre including voice, video/data applications, and Hand Held Computers. MIC is the only Company in India to have the “Design-to-Manufacture” capability for the manufacture of LED Video Display Systems.

The unconsolidated total income, of the company for the 6 months ended December 31, 2006, was Rs 654.56 million and net profit after tax was Rs 108.91 million. During the year ended June 30, 2006, the total income posted was Rs 1,044.12 million while the net profit after tax was Rs 154.76 million. MIC has a confirmed order book of worth Rs 1678.55 million as on December 31, 2006.

The sole book running lead manager to the issue is Edelweiss Capital.

Koutons to tap capital market, files DRHP

2007-04-24T10:16:00.000-09:00

The retail garment brand Koutons has filed its draft red herring prospectus, DRHP with SEBI and intends to enter the capital market with an IPO.

As on February 28, 2007, the company had 26 manufacturing and warehouse facilities in and around Gurgaon, and a network of 674 retail outlets across India.

Passport India Investments (Mauritius) has picked up 6,00,000 equity shares in Koutons Retail India for an investment amount of Rs 210 million. Passport has been allotted the equity shares at a fixed price of Rs 350 per equity share. With this infusion Koutons Retail India has raised an aggregate amount of Rs 1,216 million as private equity since June 2006. The earlier investors were UTI Venture Funds Management Company Private Limited and Argonaut Ventures.

DPS Kohli, chairman of Koutons said, "We believe that we are well positioned to capture considerable growth opportunities in Indian apparel manufacturing and retail sector. The key strength of our company lies in wide network of exclusive brand outlets, with low-cost sourcing capabilities, unique brand positioning, design and merchandising expertise, with a pulse on fashion, experienced and efficient management, wide apparel range and IT Infrastructure."

Koutons Retail India is an Indian company branding and marketing its products as "Koutons" and "Charlie Outlaw". The Koutons brand is positioned in the middle to high fashion segment, offering a complete range of a man's wardrobe (in the age group of 22 to 45 years) ranging from semi formal to casual and party wear. The old premier brand "Charlie" has recently been reinvented and re-launched as "Charlie Outlaw". The "Charlie Outlaw" brand is a casual brand targeted at fashion conscious youngsters in the age group of 14 to 25 years and is positioned as a fashionable and contemporary, value for money brand.

Uma Precision files for IPO with SEBI

2007-04-23T08:36:00.000-09:00

Uma Precision (UMA), an ISO-TS-16949-2002 certified company, has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI for entering the capital market with its initial public offering (IPO) of 40,00,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash at a premium, including an employee reservation of 1,00,000 equity shares.

The issue will be conducted through 100% book building process and the net issue to the public would constitute 27.12% of the fully diluted post-issue paid-up capital of the company.

The objects of the issue are to part-finance the new upcoming projects of, Bright Bar Manufacturing, Cold Forging, CNC Machines, Delta Industrial Surface Coating Plant and New Manufacturing plant at Pant Nagar, Uttaranchal. The cost of the project would be approximately Rs 9136 lakh.

Uma Precision is a leading manufacturer and exporter of precision assemblies, systems and machined parts for auto and electrical industry. UMA manufactures more than 1000 different components for auto and electrical industries. The object of the company is to manufacture precision assemblies, systems, automotive and electrical components. UMA supplies auto components to major OEMs in India and also exports to USA, Germany and UAE.

Uma has two subsidiaries, Gera Auto Industries Private Limited (GERA) and Kontak Comfort Private Limited (KCPL). GERA is into same line of business as that of Uma while KCPL is into the business of Rubberized Coir Foam Mattresses and has six retail outlets.

Upto 50% of the net issue to the public shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to qualified institutional buyers. Atleast 15% of the net offer to the public shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to non - institutional bidders and atleast 35% of the net offer to the public shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to retail bidders.

The book running lead manager to the issue is Karvy Investor Services. The shares will be listed at the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange.

Sebi against futuristic valuation of real estate

2007-04-23T08:35:00.000-09:00

Market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), is against real estate companies giving futuristic valuation of land with them in their draft prospectus for public offers, a move that could affect the fortunes of many realty firms.

“There should not be any disclosure of land values based on the future developed value of the land,” Sebi said in a note on IPOs by real estate companies. As of February 14, there are seven draft offer documents of real estate companies filed with Sebi. These issues are likely to raise an estimated Rs 17,400 crore from the market.

“While on one hand, a string of issues by real estate companies reflects on the ability of Indian primary market to support such huge need for funds, on the other hand, it also perhaps reflects on a tendency on the part of issuers to ride on the real estate boom, thereby pointing to need for overall caution,” the note said.

It was in this context, Sebi said, that a need was felt for a closer scrutiny of disclosures by such companies, especially relating to land bank and its valuation. According to Sebi, disclosures by real estate companies show that there were no standards. At times, valuations include certain futuristic assumptions. While in some cases there are valuations, in some others there is no valuation, reports Business Standard.

Adani plans $400 mn IPO for Mundra

2007-04-23T08:34:00.000-09:00

The Adani Group’s Mundra Port plans to raise USD 400 million from its initial public offering (IPO) for expansion of facilities.

Mundra Port as well as its adjoining special economic zone located on the west coast will become the first Indian port to go public in June this year, said company sources.

The port will also offload 10% of its stake or around 40.25 million shares to the public, foreign institutional investors, Indian financial institutions and insurance companies. The funds raised from the Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone (MPSEZ) listing and stake sale will largely go toward the expansion of Mundra and two other ports.

The port owner will set aside USD 158 million from the equity sale to develop the Mundra Port and build infrastructure, including roads, by 2010, according to senior port officials. The company will also spend a further USD 68 million to build a terminal for coal and other general cargo.

The listing proposal follows a major restructuring exercise, which made the MPSEZ the operator and holding company for three port projects - Mundra, Dahej and Dholera, apart from the sprawling SEZ.

Mundra and the proposed Dholera port is wholly-owned by the Adani Group, while the Dahej Port is being developed in partnership with Petronet LNG, with the Adani Group holding a 50 per cent stake.

MPSEZ officials said the company would invest around USD 57 million in Dahej’s equity and the total project cost was expected to be around USD 273 million. The Petronet and Adani project envisages building a bulk cargo port for products such as coal, steel and fertilizer, which will be completed in two phases within 36 months, reports Business Standard.

Fortis Healthcare IPO subscribed 2.78 times

2007-04-20T09:02:00.001-09:00

Fortis Healthcare, one of the largest private healthcare companies in India and a Ranbaxy promoter group company, has been received modest response due to mixed reactions from lot of brokerage firms. According to report, some has recommended the issue for long term while others advised to ignore the issue and some concerns on profits for next few years due to buyout of Escorts.

It was subscribed 2.78 times, till 5:30 pm on April 20, as per NSE webite. More than 12.74 crore bids have been received by the issue, which includes 4.16 crore bids at cut off price.

The company had entered the capital market with an initial public offer (IPO) of 45,996,439 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash at a premium to be decided through a 100% book building process.

The company proposes to allot 242,476 equity shares to eligible employees in the firm allotment portion. The price band for the issue has been fixed between Rs 92 and Rs 110 per equity share.

The net issue is expected to constitute 20.19% of the post-Issue paid-up equity share capital of the company. The shares are proposed to be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange.

The company has concluded pre-IPO allotments of 10,670,194 equity shares with four entities at prices ranging from Rs 135 to Rs 159.50 per share aggregating to Rs 1,536.90 million during the period between January 05, 2007, and March 20, 2007. These entities are Raj Kumar Bagri (1,000,000 equity shares), Apurv Bagri (1,000,000 equity shares), Trinity Capital (Eight) (8,000,000 equity shares) and Vasco Inc. (670,194 equity shares).

Of the net issue to the public, at least 60% shall be allotted to qualified institutional buyers (QIB). Within the QIB portion, 5% will be available for allocation to mutual funds only. Not less than 10% of the net issue will be available for allocation to non-institutional bidders and the balance of not less than 30% of the Net Issue will be available for allocation to retail investors, in each case on a proportionate basis.

The book running lead managers to the issue are J M Morgan Stanley Private Limited, Citigroup Global Markets India Private Limited and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited

Advanta India ends with 33% premium

2007-04-19T08:16:00.000-09:00

It was a fantastic listing for Advanta India, an international agronomic seed company with principal operations in India, Australia, Thailand and Argentina, and a subsidiary of United Phosphorus. The listing has also been in line with analysts expectations.

Advanta has debuted at Rs 665 on the NSE, up 4% over its issue price of Rs 640 per share and immediately in the morning trade, it hit an intraday high of Rs 1,000 on the back of huge buying interest from institutional investors as well as FIIs, which was not expected by analysts. It touched an intraday low of Rs 585.35 once in the morning trade and remained above issue price through the day. It stood above Rs 800 through the day, which shows that many investors have given buying support to the stock at that levels.

Finally, it ended at Rs 851.50, up 33.05, with volumes of 68,33,359 shares on the NSE and at Rs 850.05, up 33%, with volumes of 58,85,749 shares on the BSE.

It has touched an intraday high of Rs 992.90 and low of Rs 591 on the BSE.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, V R Kaundinya, CEO & MD, Advanta India said that he sees CY07 sales at over Rs 450 crore while PAT is seen at Rs 50 crore. The company expects good growth in Indian business in cotton and hybrid rice.

He adds that growth is expected to come from South American operations, BT Cotton and BT Corn. Moreover, revenues from India will contribute to 30% of total revenue by the end of CY07.

The company had come out with an initial public offering, IPO of 3,380,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each at price band between Rs 600 and Rs 650 per equity share. The issue was subscribed 3.98 times.

Headquartered in Bangalore, Advanta India is a subsidiary of United Phosphorus, one of the leading generic agrochemical companies in the world with operations in the United States, Australia, China, Latin America and Europe.

The company, including its operating subsidiaries, is engaged in the research, production and sales of a range of hybrid seeds for cereals and oilseed crops. It is a global leader in technical plant breeding and in the application of biotechnology to develop new hybrids and varieties of field crops and broad acre vegetable seed products

Koutons raises Rs 210 mn as private eq prior to IPO

2007-04-19T08:15:00.001-09:00

Passport India Investments (Mauritius) has picked up 6,00,000 equity shares in Koutons Retail India for an investment amount of Rs 210 million. Passport has been allotted the equity shares at a fixed price of Rs 350 per equity share.

With this infusion Koutons Retail India has raised an aggregate amount of Rs 1,216 million as private equity since June, 2006. The earlier investors were UTI Venture Funds Management Company and Argonaut Ventures.

Passport is a SEBI registered Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) based out of San Francisco, USA with over USD 1 billion of assets under management.

The company has filed its draft red herring prospectus with SEBI and intends to enter the capital market with an IPO.

As on February 28, 2007, the company had 26 manufacturing and warehouse facilities in and around Gurgaon, and a network of 674 retail outlets across India.

Koutons Retail India is an Indian company branding and marketing its products as "Koutons" and "Charlie Outlaw". As of February 28, 2007, the "Koutons" brand was sold on a total floor area of approximately 396,161 sq. ft. and the "Charlie Outlaw" brand was sold on a total floor area of approximately 110,134 sq. ft.

The BRLM and the Co-BRLM are JM Morgan Stanley and Karvy, respectively.

Advanta India hits high of Rs 1000 on 1st day

2007-04-19T08:14:00.001-09:00

Advanta India, an international agronomic seed company with principal operations in India, Australia, Thailand and Argentina, and a subsidiary of United Phosphorus, has listed at Rs 665 on the NSE against its offer price of Rs 640 per share and slipped below issue price to touch a low of Rs 585.35. But on the back of huge buying interest, it has touched an intraday high of Rs 1000, up 56.25%.

At 10:12 am, it was quoting at Rs 948.35, up 48.18%, with volumes of Rs 12,43,281 shares.

On the BSE, it has opened at Rs 640 and hit a intraday high/low of Rs 925 and Rs 591, respectively. It was quoting at Rs 925, with volumes of 10,27,989 shares, at 10:11 am.

The company had come out with an initial public offering, IPO of 3,380,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each at price band between Rs 600 and Rs 650 per equity share. The issue was subscribed 3.98 times.

Headquartered in Bangalore, Advanta India is a subsidiary of United Phosphorus, one of the leading generic agrochemical companies in the world with operations in the United States, Australia, China, Latin America and Europe. The company, including its operating subsidiaries, is engaged in the research, production and sales of a range of hybrid seeds for cereals and oilseed crops. It is a global leader in technical plant breeding and in the application of biotechnology to develop new hybrids and varieties of field crops and broad acre vegetable seed products.

Aries Agro plans IPO to raise Rs 54 crore

2007-04-19T08:03:00.000-09:00

Aries Agro, a plant nutrition solutions company, has announced a major expansion programme that will take total manufacturing capacity to 95,400 tonnes per annum (tpa) from 21,600 tpa by the year-end.

Apart from the 32,400 tpa manufacturing facility it opened on Wednesday, the Mumbai-based company would open two others in Ahmedabad and Lucknow catering to the Western, Northern and Central States.

Speaking to newspersons, Dr Jimmy Mirchandani, Joint Managing Director, said that the company was also setting up manufacturing facilities in the UAE.

To support expansion plans, the company will come out with a public issue in the next few months to raise Rs 54 crore. "We have filed a draft red herring prospectus with the SEBI, the NSE and the BSE," he said.

The company registered turnover of Rs 74 crore in 2006-07 against Rs 59 crore in the previous year.

Aries, which exports products to East Africa, Bangladesh and Nepal, also plans to increase focus on export markets.

The new facility at nearby Patancheru will manufacture water-soluble sachets, offering environmental-friendly products to farmers, reports The Hindu Business Line.

BEML files DRHP with SEBI for follow-on public offer

2007-04-18T09:25:00.000-09:00

Bharat Earth Movers, BEML, multi-locational and multi-product manufacturer of mining and construction equipments, railway & metro products and defence products, has filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to enter the capital markets with its follow-on public offer of equity shares.

The company proposes to offer 49,00,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash at a premium to be decided through a 100% book building process. The issue includes a reservation for eligible employees of 4,90,000 equity shares and a net issue to the public of 44,10,000 equity shares.

The issue would constitute 11.77% of the fully diluted post-issue paid-up equity capital of the company. After the issue, the government holding is expected to be approximately 54%, and the company will continue as a "Government Company".

The book running lead manager to the issue is ICICI Securities.

The issue proceeds will fund the expansion of the Metro Coach manufacturing facility at Bangalore, and capital expenditure including upgradation of current facilities. The company also intends to use part of the proceeds to set up a 5MW Wind Mill for captive consumption and contribution towards setting up of an R&D Centre of Excellence for Metro Coaches. The company will also earmark some part of the proceeds towards a voluntary retirement scheme for employees.

Bharat Earth Movers is a Mini-Ratna (Category 1) company under the Ministry of Defence and ranked. BEML primarily deals in three product segments comprising mining and construction equipments, defence products and railway & metro products through which it caters to vital applications in diverse sectors of the economy such as mining, steel, cement, power, irrigation, construction, road building, defence, railway and Metro transit system.

Recently, it expanded its product range to cover high quality hydraulics, heavy-duty diesel engines, welding robots and heavy fabrication jobs. In the beginning of fiscal 2007, it decided to foray into two more new business areas: a) technology, providing e-engineering solutions globally; and b) trading, for marketing non-core components, spares, aggregates and commodities for domestic and international markets. It has been at the forefront of delivering robust, high-quality products to its customers resulting in low cost of ownership. To this extent, it incorporates state-of-the-art technology in all the products through market-driven R&D, and collaborates with reputed international companies for imbibing the latest technology.

The existing equity shares of the company are listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange, National Stock Exchange and the Bangalore Stock Exchange, as per press release.

Advanta India to list on April 19

2007-04-18T09:24:00.000-09:00

Advanta India, an international agronomic seed company with principal operations in India, Australia, Thailand and Argentina, and a subsidiary of United Phosphorus, will list on bourses with 1,68,34,500 shares on April 19, 2007.

The issue price has fixed at Rs 640 per share. Its NSE ID is ADVANTA and BSE ID is 532840.

The company had come out with an initial public offering, IPO of 3,380,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each at price band between Rs 600 and Rs 650 per equity share.

The issue was subscribed 3.98 times. The issue received good response from qualified institutional buyers; their portion subscribed 6.47 times.

Headquartered in Bangalore, Advanta India Limited is a subsidiary of United Phosphorus, one of the leading generic agrochemical companies in the world with operations in the United States, Australia, China, Latin America and Europe. The company, including its operating subsidiaries, is engaged in the research, production and sales of a range of hybrid seeds for cereals and oilseed crops. It is a global leader in technical plant breeding and in the application of biotechnology to develop new hybrids and varieties of field crops and broad acre vegetable seed products.

Oil India to raise Rs 1500cr via IPO

2007-04-18T09:23:00.000-09:00

Oil India, OIL is planning to raise Rs 1500 crore through initial public offering, IPO in July-September. The company will dilute 11% government stake, according to CNBC-TV18 reports.

Proceeds raised from the issue will be used for exploration and overseas buys.

OIL is likely to form 50:50 joint venture with IOC by May-end and not keen to take stake in HPCL's Bhatinda refinery.

Bhagwati Banquets IPO subscription starts today

2007-04-18T09:21:00.000-09:00

Bhagwati Banquets and Hotels is open for subscription with an IPO to raise around Rs 92 crore at the upper end of the price band of Rs 36-40 per share. The proceeds will part-finance setting up of a 100-room five star banquet hotel in Surat, Gujarat.

The company will issue 2.3 crore equity shares, of which 1.85 crore equity shares, will be for the public.

At least, 50% of the net issue to the public shall be allotted on a proportionate basis to qualified institutional buyers.

Further, 15% of the net issue shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to non-institutional bidders, while 35% of the net issue to the public shall be for allocation on a proportionate basis to retail bidders.

The issue will close on April 25.

The new hotel in Surat will cost Rs 77.5 crore and will be ready in the next 18 months. The hotel's banquet facility will accommodate 5,000 people at a time and has an outdoor catering facility capable of serving 1,000 people at a time, said Narendra Somani, chairman and managing director of the company.

Chartered Capital & Investments is the book running lead manager to the issue.

Hilton Metal IPO opens for subscription

2007-04-18T09:20:00.002-09:00

Hilton Metal Forging is open for subscription with an initial public offering, IPO of 54.5 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each at a price Rs 70 per equity share inclusive of premium aggregating Rs 38.15 crore including 5000 shares being offered to Centrum Capital at Rs 70 per share. The net issue to the public is of 54.45 lakh shares aggregating Rs 38.11 crore.

The issue will constitute 43.8% of post issue paid up equity capital. ICRA has assigned IPO grade 2. It closes on April 24, 2007.

The proceeds of the issue will be used for expansion of existing capacity from 11,100 MTA to 24,900 MTA by installing additional Plant & Machinery; setting up new building to manufacture the large size components and to meet the working capital margin requirement.

The company specializes in the manufacture of forgings for the oil, petrochemical, pharmaceutical and automobile industries and also planning to manufacture for other OEMs. It has expanded its activities to include other customers from Europe and other Asian countries.

Hilton is going to put up Forging Presses, Ring Rolling to capture the market of Oil and Gas sector and has started manufacturing forged valve components for O & G and Petrochem refineries.

For nine months FY07, the company posted net sales of Rs 40 crore; net profit of Rs 3.7 crore. The OPM stood at 11.2% and its diluted EPS is of Rs 3.01.

Simplex Projects plans IPO

2007-04-18T09:20:00.001-09:00

Simplex Projects, an ISO 9001-2000 certified construction company, engaged in integrated engineering, procurement and construction services including specialised pile driving, is coming out with an IPO and has already filed the draft red herring prospectus with SEBI for issue of 30 lakh equity shares of face value of Rs 10.

UTI Securities has been appointed as the book-running lead manager for the issue.

B K Mundhra, chairman and managing director of Simplex, told that the basic objective was to augment long- term working capital requirements, besides acquisition of plant and machinery. He said funds would be needed for purchase of design and technology for semi- and fully-automated multi-level car parking systems and purchase of prototypes, an area in which the company is now developing huge expertise.

He said the company is already handling new construction projects in the North East (hospitals, market complexes and sewerage projects) especially in Assam, Manipur and Sikkim.

Retail parking space

Pradeep K Mishra, senior V-P (Finance & Accounts), said the company has planned to enter the retail parking space in a big way and has already signed a joint venture with a Korean company for the purpose. He said Simpark Infrastructure, the wholly owned subsidiary of the company for parking systems, intends to deploy some Rs 1 crore for marketing and promotion of semi-automated parking systems.

The semi-automatic system, technically labelled as Empty Square System or Puzzle Parking Technology, according to the company official, would provide independent parking spaces for cars in private buildings.

The system is for a maximum of 50 cars in a single module, and can be laid out in a maximum of 5 levels. He said it was adaptable to individual small project requirements.

According to the prospectus, Simplex proposes to invest Rs 6 crore of the net proceeds of the issue in Simpark Infrastructure by way of subscription to the equity capital of the subsidiary, reports The Hindu Business Line.

PowerGrid files draft prospectus for IPO

2007-04-18T09:17:00.000-09:00

Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its initial public offer and partial divestment of Government equity in the company.

PGCIL would issue 10% fresh equity and the Government would disinvest 5% stake in the company. Currently, the Central Government holds 100% stake in the company.

Earlier the Finance Ministry had indicated that the power PSUs in which Government stake is being partially diluted would hit the market by the end of the first quarter.

PGCIL has a paid-up capital of Rs 3,800 crore. The shares would have a face value of Rs 10 each and the premium would be decided through the book building route.

The company posted a net profit of Rs 799 crore for 2006-07 and plans to make total investment of Rs 55,000 crore during 2007-12 to take inter-regional power transmission capacity to 37,000 MW from the present level of approximately 12,000 MW, reports The Hindu Business Line.

Hilton Metal Forging Ltd.Issue Open on 18th April

2007-04-17T08:51:00.000-09:00

Issue Open 18/04/2007
Issue Close 24/04/2007
Issue Size 54,50,000 Equity Shares
Issue Type Fixed Price
Face Value Rs.10/-
Price Range Rs.70/-
Tick Size
Market Lot 80
Minimum Order Qty 80

Listing Stock Exchange Mumbai, NSE.
Registrar To The Issue Sharex Dynamic(India) Pvt Ltd
Book Running Lead Managers Centrum Capital Ltd., Srei Capital Markets Ltd.

Registered Office Address 60, Whispering Palm Centre, Lokhandwala Township, Kandivali (East), Mumbai - 400101.
Phone 91-22-28863359/28846565 Fax 91-22-28846677
Email ipo@hmfl.co.in
Website Hilton Metal Forging Ltd.

Analysis

Background:

Hilton Metal Forging Ltd. (HMFL) was formed by converting the partnership firm M/s Hilton Forge in July 2005.
HMFL is engaged in forging business i.e. manufacture and export of stainless steel Flanges & Stub ends. Company also specializes in the manufacture of forged items for the oil & gas sector, Petrochemical, Pharmaceutical, automobile industries and plans to manufacture for other equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
HMFL exports forged components to various manufacturers and distributors in USA, UK, European and Middle East Countries also.
The company is one of the two Indian forging companies having US approval for 0.89% import duty as against anti-dumping duty of 160% imposed on other units. This has opened a very big market for the company.
HMFL has decided to go for expansion in forging capacities by putting up forging presses, Ring Rolling to capture the market of oil and gas industries.
Pre issue shareholding pattern of HMFL, Total Promoter Group Holding is 97.81%, Non-Promoter holding is 2.19%; Post Issue Shareholding pattern, Total Promoter Group Holding will be 54.97%, Non- Promoter Holding will be 1.23% and Public holding will be 43.80%.
Objectives of the Issue:

Expansion of its existing capacity from 11,100 MTA to 24,900 MTA by way of installing additional Plant & Machinery.
To meet the Working Capital Margin Requirement
To meet the Public Issue expenses

Valuation:

The book value per share is Rs.19.91 as on 31 st Dec.’2006.
ROCE has substantially improved from 10.83% in FY04 to 29.23% in FY06.
The Debt to Equity ratio of the company projected at 2.67 (post issue).
Post issue annualised EPS will be 4.02 at a PE of 17.43 as compared to industry average of 20.50.

Source :- Indiabulls

Fortis Healthcare Ltd. Issue Open on 16th April

2007-04-16T08:59:00.000-09:00

Issue Open 16/04/2007
Issue Close 20/04/2007
Issue Size 4,59,96,439 equity shares
Issue Type Book Building
Face Value Rs.10/-
Price Range Rs 92/- to Rs 110/-
Tick Size Re 1/-
Market Lot 60
Minimum Order Qty 60

Listing Stock Exchange Mumbai, NSE
Registrar To The Issue Intime Spectrum Registry Ltd.
Book Running Lead Managers JM Morgan Stanley Pvt Ltd., Citigroup Global Markets India Pvt Ltd.,Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd.

Registered Office Address Piccadily House, 275-276, 4th Floor, Captain Gaur Marg, Srinivas Puri,New Delhi- 110065
Phone 91- 11- 42295222 Fax 91- 11- 41802121
Email fortisipo@fortishealthcare.com
Website Fortis Healthcare Ltd.

Analysis

Background :

Fortis Healthcare Ltd. (FHL) was incorporated on February 28,1996 as RancareLtd.The name was finally changed to the present Fortis Healthcare Ltd on June 20, 1996. FHL is promoted by Ranbaxy Laboratories group.
FHL has network of 11 hospitals primarily in north India, 15 satellite and heart command centers in hospitals across the country and one heart command center in Afghanistan.
FHL has approximately 1490 in patients beds with capacity to 1725(approx.) across 11 hospitals.
As FHL is present in northern region, the major competitors are Apollo Group, Max Healthcare, and AIIMS.
The subsidiary of FHL are Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre Limited, Escorts Heart and Super Speciality Institute Limited, Escorts Heart Centre Limited, Escorts Hospital and Research Centre Limited, Escorts Heart and Super Speciality Hospital Limited, International Hospital Limited,Oscar Bio-Tech Private Limited, Hiranandani Healthcare PrivateLimited.
The internal operational protocols at Fortis Hospital, Noida, EHIRC and EHRC have been designated as ISO 9001:2000-compliant.
Post issue promoter's shareholding pattern reduced from 93.37% to 74.42%.

Objects of the Issue :

To meet the cost of development and construction of a new hospital owned by Oscar Bio-tech Private Limited (“OBPL”).
To refinance the funds availed for the acquisition of Escorts Heart Institute Research Centre Limited (“EHIRCL”).
To prepay some of short-term loans.

Strengths :

Increase in incidence of lifestyle diseases and availabilityof cheap & better medical facilities draws overseas patients.
As FHL is present only in the northern region, it has opportunities to mark its presence in the other parts of the country.
Weakness :
For nine months ended December 31, 06 the occupancy rate of EHSSI (Amritsar), Fortis Hospital (Amritsar), Jessa Ram Hospital (Delhi), Fortis La Femme (Delhi), EHCR (Raipur) is 36%, 33%, 52%, 50%, 26% respectively which is quite low.

Valuation :

The Operating income of the company has grown atCAGR of 122.74% over the period of five years from Rs 11.89 cr in FY 02 to Rs 292.55 cr in FY 06. The Operating income for the nine months ended December 06 was Rs 376.6 cr.
The Net loss has increased from Rs 26.48 cr in FY 02 to Rs 62.50 cr in FY 06 on account of increased expenses. The Net loss for the nine months ended December 06 was Rs 74.58 cr.
The RONW has decreased to -59% in FY 02 to -20% in FY 06. The RONW was -32% for the nine months ended December 06.The improvement in net worth is due to the increase in the net worth.
The BV as on March 31 06 was Rs 18.3 and as on December 31 06 was Rs 12.8. Post issue book value per share comes out to be Rs. 12.26. Shares are being offered at a price band of Rs. 92/- to Rs. 110/-. At a P/BV of 7.5 to 9

Peer analysis (consolidated basis for March 31 2006) :

Source :- Indiabulls

Recent listings buzz: ICRA, Orbit up by 15-20%

2007-04-16T08:58:00.001-09:00

Initial public offers have been seeing a slow down in the last two months. People have become very selective when it comes to investing in IPOs.

Normally, the trend is that if the company gets lesser number of subscriptions, then the chances of getting listed with a higher margin from the issue price is less. But the story was different in case of Orbit Corporation. It got few subscriptions in the IPO period but on the day and after the listing day it has been receiving a good response.

Since its listing( April 12), it has shot up by almost 62% over its offer price of Rs 110. Today also it jumped by 14% over its Friday's closing of Rs 153.5.

Orbit Corporation is a real estate construction and development company with a primary focus on redevelopment of existing properties. It entered the capital market with an IPO of 91 lakh shares. The issue was subscribed 3.85 times.

Sharmila Joshi of Asit C Mehta said, "The stock is not liked for two reasons. One is the petition filed against them because of the lack of disclosures the company had not made and the second is the business of the company, which is into redevelopment of property. Some of these projects take huge time and the profit pipeline is slightly hazy compared to some of the other construction companies."

She further added, "Even the rating they voluntarily went for was quite low and so we saw that the IPO didn’t do too well. It was over subscribed some 3-4 times which is low given to the kind of subscriptions we are seeing. It is not a stock that I would buy at this level and if one had bought it at the IPO period, I would use this upside to exit the stock."

ICRA is another stock which is buzzing on the bourses. The stock has hit 20% upper circuit today; up more than 190% over its issue price of Rs 330 as the stock has been witnessing huge buying interest since Friday. It surged 163% on listing day (April 13).

ICRA had entered the capital market with an IPO of 25.81 lakh shares at a price band of Rs 275-330. It was subscribed 75 times.

IPO grading made mandatory by SEBI had helped the stock to move higher. Gaurang Shah of Geojit Financial Services said, "The more positive news for this is the SEBI’s guidelines as far as grading of IPO is concern. I think this is where most of the bottomline is going to come going forward. It got oversubscribed at 75.04 times and almost 2 times the kind of returns. Going forward it makes sense to hold the share because there is going to be much more upside."

"The revenue generation is also going to form a greater part going forward, so maybe you might see some kind of profit booking at higher levels but it makes sense holding the stock." he added.

Fortis Healthcare IPO opens for subscription

2007-04-16T08:56:00.000-09:00

Fortis Healthcare, one of the largest private healthcare companies in India and a Ranbaxy promoter group company, is open for subscription with an initial public offer (IPO) of 45,996,439 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash at a premium to be decided through a 100% book building process.

The company proposes to allot 242,476 equity shares to eligible employees in the firm allotment portion. The price band for the issue has been fixed between Rs 92 and Rs 110 per equity share.

The issue closes on April 20, 2007. The net issue is expected to constitute 20.19% of the post-Issue paid-up equity share capital of the company. The shares are proposed to be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange.

The company has concluded pre-IPO allotments of 10,670,194 equity shares with four entities at prices ranging from Rs 135 to Rs 159.50 per share aggregating to Rs 1,536.90 million during the period between January 05, 2007, and March 20, 2007. These entities are Raj Kumar Bagri (1,000,000 equity shares), Apurv Bagri (1,000,000 equity shares), Trinity Capital (Eight) (8,000,000 equity shares) and Vasco Inc. (670,194 equity shares).

Of the net issue to the public, at least 60% shall be allotted to qualified institutional buyers (QIB). Within the QIB portion, 5% will be available for allocation to mutual funds only. Not less than 10% of the net issue will be available for allocation to non-institutional bidders and the balance of not less than 30% of the Net Issue will be available for allocation to retail investors, in each case on a proportionate basis.

The book running lead managers to the issue are J M Morgan Stanley Private Limited, Citigroup Global Markets India Private Limited and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited.

ONGC to take 26% of KRPL to public

2007-04-16T08:55:00.000-09:00

ONGC will tap the capital market with a public issue later this fiscal to part-finance its Rs 18,000-crore refinery-cum-petrochemical project. The 15-million-tonne refinery complex will be built to cater to the demand for high-grade fuel in the European and other Western markets.

According to a senior ONGC official, although the project had been conceived as an MRPL venture, it would eventually be transferred to ONGC. The project will be developed through a separate SPV, Kakinada Refinery & Petrochemicals (KRPL). IL&FS, which has picked up a 26% stake in the SPV, will exit the project and offload its stake to the public.

ONGC’s initial announcement to build a 7.5-million-tonne refinery had run into rough weather after the company found the proposal commercially unviable in the current capacity. ONGC was directed by the PMO to relook at the proposal following several representations from the state government.

The company now plans to double the refinery within an SEZ that would be developed in collaboration with Andhra Pradesh Industrial Development Corp and Kakinada Sea Ports. While ONGC would have a majority stake and management control, the proposed JV would be a non-PSU joint venture.

Based on the business model of Reliance Petroleum’s Jamnagar refinery, the Kakinada refinery too would use imported crude and produce high-margin Euro-III and Euro-IV petroleum products. “We have appointed Engineers India (EIL) to conduct another feasibility study that includes doubling the capacity of the proposed refinery to 15 million tonnes per annum (MTPA),” a senior ONGC official told.

Earlier, EIL had done a feasibility study to set up a 7.5-MTPA refinery in Kakinada with an investment of Rs 12,000 crore. The earlier EIL feasibility report was not encouraging. However, doubling the capacity with a little more investment makes economic sense, he added. EIL is expected to submit the feasibility report by June. The works on the project is expected to start by August 2007, reports The Economic Times.

Bhagwati Banquets and Hotels Ltd.Issue Open on 18th April 2007

2007-04-13T08:29:00.000-09:00

Issue details

Issue Open 18/04/2007
Issue Close 25/04/2007
Issue Size 2,30,00,000 Equity Shares.
Issue Type Book Building.
Face Value Rs.10/-
Price Range Rs36/- to Rs40/-
Tick Size Re.1/-
Market Lot 175
Minimum Order Qty 175

Listing Stock Exchange Mumbai, NSE
Registrar To The Issue Intime Spectrum Registry Ltd.
Book Running Lead Managers Chartered Capital and Investment Ltd.

Registered Office Address Plot no. 380, Sarkhej Gandhinagar Highway, Bodakdev, Ahmedabad-380054, India
Phone 91-79-26841000 Fax 91-79-26840915
Email info@thegrandbhagwati.com
Website Bhagwati Banquets and Hotels Ltd.

Capital Structure

Authorised Capital: 30,000,000 shares of Rs 10 each
Equity shares outstanding prior to issue: 6,286,400 shares of Rs 10 each
Equity shares outstanding after IPO: 29,280,000 shares of Rs 10 each

Background

A leading banqueting and outdoor catering company, Bhagwati Banquets and Hotels Ltd operates a three-star hotel under the brand “The Grand Bhagwati” in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The hotel has 37 rooms, a restaurant and a coffee shop. The hotel has three banquet halls, which can hold 5,400 persons on a two-shift basis. It also has a large lounge and a captive, easy parking facility to match the size of its banquet facility.

The company started operations with small outlet called “Delhi Chat” in Ahmedabad in 1990. It is also engaged in providing catering services in Surat and other South Gujarat districts, for Taj Hotels in Udaipur, Jaipur and Hyderabad, and for Karnavati Club and Rajpath Club in Ahmedabad. It established a centralized kitchen (food factory) in 1998 at Changodar, about 15 km from Ahmedabad. The company is presently planning to set up a five-star hotel in Surat.

Objective of the issue

The proceeds from the IPO will be utilized to set up a 5-star hotel in Surat (estimated cost Rs 77.75 crore), general corporate purposes and to meet issue expenses.

Key Investment Rationale

Demand-supply mismatch

The Indian hotel industry has witnessed robust growth over last two years due to increase in average room rates (ARRs) resulting from a significant mismatch in the demand-supply scenario. It is estimated that there is currently a shortfall of about 150,000 hotel rooms. Further, the huge growth in domestic as well as international business and leisure travel has exasperated the situation. India is one of the most exciting emerging tourist destinations in the world. The tourism sector is expected to grow at a CAGR 8.8% over the next 9 years (from 2006-15), which would place India as the second most rapidly growing market in the world. The tourist arrival is expected to touch new heights fuelled by the low cost airlines. ARRs and occupancy rates will see further growth during this period, thereby driving industry profitability.

Focus on business clientele

Hotel customers can be broadly classified as domestic leisure travellers, domestic business travellers, foreign business travellers and foreign leisure travellers. The inflow of business travellers is less seasonal as compared to leisure travellers. The company will be focusing on business travellers and has successfully run the “The Grand Bhagwati” since 2002. It now plans to go up the value chain by setting up a 5-star hotel in Surat, one of the country’s important industrial hubs, especially for textiles and diamonds.

Less susceptible to seasonality factor

Spread across 65,000 sq ft, the 100-room 5-star hotel will mostly focus on banqueting and catering services. The company believes its focus on banqueting, convention and business facilities, which is its business strategy, makes it less susceptible to seasonality factor. In FY06, over half its income came from its banqueting and catering services.

Key Concerns

The proposed 5-star hotel in Surat is still in the preliminary stages. Assuming the project is completed on schedule, the hotel will by commissioned by the third quarter of FY09. It is estimated that over the next two years 70,000-80,000 rooms will be added across different categories throughout the country, which is likely to reduce the demand-supply gap. Hence, the hotel may not enjoy higher room rates when it is commissioned.
The company’s operating margins at around 18% are below the hotel industry average of 30%. This is due to the low Average Revenue Per Room (ARRs) in Ahmedabad. The new hotel is also not likely to increase margins, as the ARR in Surat is also low at around Rs 4,000 compared to the all-India average of Rs 6,000 for 5-star hotels.
The hotel industry is cyclical and sensitive to changes in the economy and this could have a significant impact on the company’s operations and financial results.

Financials

The company’s total income for the nine-month ended December 31, 2006 was Rs 24.55 crore. Profit after tax was Rs 3.21 crore. Total income for the year ended March 31, 2006 was Rs 23.05 crore against Rs 13.35 core in FY05. Profit after tax was Rs 1.36 crore (Rs 0.90 crore).

IPO grading

Rating agency CRISIL has assigned the IPO a grade of 1 on a scale of 1 to 5, where a grade of 5 indicates strong fundamentals and 1 indicating poor fundamentals. This grade indicates that the fundamentals of the issue are poor relative to other listed equity securities in India. The grading reflects CRISIL’s opinion that the business prospects of the company’s planned 5-star hotel in Surat are significantly sub-par.

CARE, another rating agency has assigned a grade 2 to this IPO. CARE IPO Grade 2 indicates below average fundamentals. It assigns IPO Grade on a scale of 5 to 1, with grade 5 indicating strong fundamentals and grade 1 indicating poor fundamentals.

Valuation

At the issue price band of Rs 36-40, the stock will discount its FY08E EPS of Rs 2.13 by 18.78x at the upper band and 16.9x at the lower band. The issue looks expensive compared to peers like Jaypee Hotels, Asian Hotels and Royal Orchid Hotel, which are currently trading at 8.91x, 17.10x and 12.32x their respective FY08E EPS. On an EV/ EBIDTA basis, the stock also looks expensive. We feel that investors should avoid the issue as existing players with better brand and established operations are available at cheaper valuations.

Peer Valuation

Financials for FY08E assuming full subscription at higher price band (Rs 40), Price as on 12-Apr-07

Source :- ICICI Direct

ICRA biggest gainer on listing since April 2006; up 151%

2007-04-13T08:18:00.002-09:00

It is a fantastic listing day for ICRA, a leading provider of investment information and credit rating services in India. It started the day with 64% premium and touched an intraday high of Rs 870 (gain of 163.63% or Rs 540 over its issue price of Rs 330 per share) on the back of strong buying interest from institutional investors, FIIs and retail investors. Markets also supported its listing as Sensex surged 270 points or 2% on account of good results from Infosys.

ICRA remained above its opening price of Rs 540 through the day. It is the biggest gainer on listing day since April 2006 (excluding Nissan Copper).

The stock ended at Rs 829 on the NSE, up 151.21%, with volumes of 1,90,83,312 shares.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, DN Ghosh, Chairman and PK Choudhury, Vice Chairman and Group CEO of ICRA said that the growth will be in line with the previous years' growth rates. Choudhury attributes the positive trend for rating companies to favourable demand drivers.

The company hopes to achieve reasonable growth over next few years as all four business segments showing good traction, he added.

On the BSE, it closed with 142% premium at Rs 797.60, with volumes of 1,24,26,046 shares. It hit a high of Rs 880.10 and low of Rs 525.

The company had entered capital market with a public issue of 2,581,100 equity shares of Rs 10 each.

Its issue received tremendous response and was oversubscribed 75.04 times. Qualified institutional investors portion subscribed 90.65 times with significant FIIs contribution. HNIs supported with 72 times subscription and retail with 54 times.

It is also an associate of Moody’s Investors Services. Moody has 29% stake in ICRA. Remaining stake is held by leading financial institutions and banks.

Sharmila Joshi of Asit C Mehta said that the kind of robust growth seen in this kind of business will definitely give the company an upside. "The kind of move we have seen today has been really quite fantastic. It is not a price to buy but a price to hold the stock if you have it," she said.

CRISIL assigns grade 1/5 to MBL Infrastructures IPO

2007-04-13T08:18:00.001-09:00

CRISIL has come out with grading report on MBL Infrastructures IPO. It has has assigned a CRISIL IPO grade “1/5” to the proposed initial public offer of MBL Infrastructures.

MBL Infrastructures is entering capital market with a public issue of 6,000,000 equity shares at a target price of Rs 100 per share aggregating Rs 600 million.

CRISIL has assigned a CRISIL IPO grade “1/5” (pronounced “one on five”) to the proposed initial public offer of MBL Infrastructures, MBL. This grade indicates that the fundamentals of the issue are poor relative to other listed equity securities in India.

The assigned grade reflects MBL’s weak competitive position in the road construction industry, especially the Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) segment; the fact that the company’s management has been a late mover in capturing business opportunities in its area of operation; and the fact that the returns from the company’s planned large investment in the BOT segment
would be subject to a lead time of 4-5 years.

The grading takes into account the company’s good track record in the road maintenance business segment, which would benefit from the current boom in the road construction industry. However, CRISIL notes that MBL’s fund requirement for the construction contracting and road maintenance parts of its business is much lower than the amount that MBL is planning to raise in the current issue. Consequently, CRISIL believes that these parts of MBL's business would not be able to support its enhanced equity base.

About the company

The company promoted by Ram Gopal Maheshwari and Anjanee Kumar Lakhotia, was incorporated as a public limited company in 1995 as Maheshwari Brothers. In July 2006, it was renamed as MBL Infrastructures. The traditional businesses of the company comprised waste management (slag recycling at steel plants) and steel trading.

In 1993, it diversified into the road construction business as a sub-contractor to Bridge and Roof Ltd. (a Government of West Bengal undertaking) for constructing the Snauli-Gorakhpur stretch (20 km, a World Bank-aided project). Subsequently, the company enhanced its focus on road construction (cash contracts and maintenance). In 2003, the company entered into the roads BOT segment by bagging the Madhya Pradesh state government project of 114-km (Rs 68 crore) for Seoni-Balaghat-Gondia (SBG) stretch.

Orbit Corporation ends with 18% premium

2007-04-13T08:16:00.000-09:00

Real estate construction and development company Orbit Corporation, debuted on the NSE at Rs 113 against its offer price of Rs 110 per share and touched an intraday high of Rs 137.60 as it witnessed buying interest despite weakness in markets through the day. In the morning trade it touched a low of Rs 110.15.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Pujit Aggarwal, MD of Orbit Corporation informed that the company is going to finish 80% of 16 projects by March 2008. He also informs that the company is acquiring more properties with good cash flows. Furthermore, Orbit sees FY07 EPS at Rs 16-17. He expects 35% margin in redevelopment projects and 25% in open plots.

On the back developments mentioned by MD Pujit Aggarwal, the stock hit a high of Rs 137.60 and was hovering around Rs 125-130 band through the day. Finally, it ended the day at Rs 130, up 18.18%, with volumes of 1,45,62,093 shares.

On the BSE, the share closed at Rs 127.95, up 16%, with volumes of 14447307 shares. It touched an intraday high of Rs 137 and low of Rs 90.

The company had entered capital market with an initial public offering, IPO of 9,100,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash between a price band of Rs 108 and Rs 117 per equity share along with one detachable warrant per equity share. The issue subscribed 3.85 times.

Issue had come out with detachable warrants, wherein the shareholder having the option to convert it into a share 18 months after allotment but before the 30th month at a price calculated as follows: If the share price goes below the issue price, shareholders can convert their warrants at a 30% discount to the prevailing market price. But, if the market price is at or above the issue price, they can encash it at a 10% discount to the market price.

The holding of the promoters Ravi Aggarwal and Pujit Aggarwal, along with their group company fell to 59.2% post-issue from 79%. The promoter stake will get diluted further to 47.3% on conversion of the warrants

ICRA to list on April 13

2007-04-13T08:14:00.000-09:00

ICRA, a leading provider of investment information and credit rating services in India, will list on bourses with 1,00,00,000 shares on April 13, 2007.

Its BSE ID is 532835 and NSE ID is ICRA. The offer price fixed at Rs 330 per share.

The company had entered capital market with a public issue of 2,581,100 equity shares of Rs 10 each, for cash, at a price to be decided through a 100% book building process. The issue was oversubscribed 75.04 times.

It is also an associate of Moody’s Investors Services. Moody has 29% stake in ICRA. Remaining stake is held by leading financial institutions and banks.

The objects of the offer were to achieve the benefits of listing on the stock exchanges and provide liquidity to existing shareholders and employees.

Book running lead managers to the issue are SBI Capital Markets & Kotak Mahindra Capital and registrar is Intime Spectrum Registry.

Orbit Corporation to list on April 12

2007-04-11T09:37:00.000-09:00

Orbit Corporation, a real estate construction and development company with a primary focus on redevelopment of existing properties, will list on Bombay Stock Exchange on April 12, 2007.

The company had entered capital market with an initial public offering, IPO of 9,100,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash between a price band of Rs 108 and Rs 117 per equity share along with one detachable warrant per equity share. The issue subscribed 3.85 times.

Issue had come out with detachable warrants, wherein the shareholder having the option to convert it into a share 18 months after allotment but before the 30th month at a price calculated as follows: If the share price goes below the issue price, shareholders can convert their warrants at a 30% discount to the prevailing market price. But, if the market price is at or above the issue price, they can encash it at a 10% discount to the market price.

The holding of the promoters Ravi Aggarwal and Pujit Aggarwal, along with their group company fell to 59.2% post-issue from 79%. The promoter stake will get diluted further to 47.3% on conversion of the warrants.

The book running lead manager to the issue was Edelweiss Capital and Intime Spectrum was the registrar.

Gremach Infra ends below issue price

2007-04-11T09:36:00.000-09:00

Gremach Infrastructure Equipments and Projects has started the day with 7% premium (at Rs 92 on BSE) over its issue price of Rs 86 per share and touched an intraday high of Rs 100 in the morning trade. Half of the day, it was trading above Rs 90 level but in late trade it slipped below Rs 90 due to selling pressure and hit a low of Rs 80.70. It ended at Rs 83.95, which is below its issue price, with volumes of 1,03,44,450 shares.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, the company's Managing Director, Rishi Raj Agarwal said that he expects FY08 sales to be at Rs 150 crore. According to him, interest rate hikes may affect the company's bottomline.

The company had entered capital market with a public issue of Rs 59 crore through 100% book building process. Gremach public issue had subscribed 1.13 times with support of non-institutional investors.

Bhagwati Banquets plans Rs 92-cr public issue

2007-04-11T09:35:00.000-09:00

Bhagwati Banquets and Hotels is coming out with an IPO to raise around Rs 92 crore at the upper end of the price band of Rs 36-40 per share. The proceeds will part-finance setting up of a 100-room five star banquet hotel in Surat, Gujarat.

The company will issue 2.3 crore equity shares, of which 1.85 crore equity shares, will be for the public.

At least, 50% of the net issue to the public shall be allotted on a proportionate basis to qualified institutional buyers.

Further, 15% of the net issue shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to non-institutional bidders, while 35% of the net issue to the public shall be for allocation on a proportionate basis to retail bidders.

The issue will open for subscription on April 18 and close on April 25.

The new hotel in Surat will cost Rs 77.5 crore and will be ready in the next 18 months. The hotel's banquet facility will accommodate 5,000 people at a time and has an outdoor catering facility capable of serving 1,000 people at a time, said Narendra Somani, chairman and managing director of the company.

"The hotel will try to cash in on the large corporate base in Surat and focus on social events and parties," Somani added.

Chartered Capital & Investments is the book running lead manager to the issue, reports The Hindu Business Line.

Gremach Infra debuts with 6% premium

2007-04-11T09:34:00.001-09:00

Gremach Infrastructure Equipments and Projects, provider of construction and earthmoving machineries, has listed at Rs 91 on the Bombay Stock Exchange as against its offer price of Rs 86 per share.

The stock was trading at Rs 92.45, with volumes of 35,05,677 shares, at 11:26 am. It has touched an intraday high of Rs 100 and low of Rs 90.10.

The company had entered capital market with a public issue of Rs 59 crore through 100% book building process. Gremach public issue had subscribed 1.13 times with support of non-institutional investors.

Petition moved against Orbit Corp listing

2007-04-11T09:16:00.000-09:00

The Indian Investor Protection Forum has filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court seeking a stay on the listing of shares of Orbit Corporation, which had recently made an IPO.

The petition also seeks not to permit the operation of the escrow account in which institutions have placed their subscriptions. The petitioner claims that the company, engaged in real estate construction, had not made adequate disclosures on their land development activities in their red herring prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India and thereby failed to follow the guidelines.

The IPO of Orbit Corporation was oversubscribed 3.85 times. The company had planned to get listed on the exchanges on April 12.

Satyendra Ramgopal Sharma, Promoter of Indian Investor Protection Forum, who filed the petition, told, "The company is currently working on 16 sites, of which details of only 12 sites have been mentioned in the red herring prospectus. Besides, the due diligence certificate of the co-book running lead manager, Enam Securities, who withdrew from the issue, was not provided. Also, the money from the promoter's contribution is only a book entry."

Orbit Corporation claims all the disclosures in the red herring prospectus were as per the Disclosure and Investor Protection guidelines of SEBI. "The prospectus was submitted to SEBI on August 16, 2006 and was available for public scrutiny," said Ramashrya Yadav, Head-Finance and Strategies, Orbit Corporation.

`SEBI silent'

Yadav also said Enam Securities was appointed only for marketing of the IPO to domestic and HNI retail clients and not as the co-book running lead manager and, therefore, they were not required to provide the due diligence.

The SEBI has been silent on the issue, said Sharma. The case will be heard on April 11, reports The Hindu Business Line.

Valuation row holds up Binani IPO

2007-04-11T09:15:00.000-09:00

The initial public offering (IPO) of Binani Cements is hanging fire over valuation differences between the lead manager (ICICI Securities) and JP Morgan Special Situations Asia Corporation, which is offloading a part of its holding in the cement company through an offer for sale.

According to sources close to the development, JP Morgan Special Situations, a wholly owned subsidiary of JP Morgan Chase, is keen on a price of around Rs 125 per share, which is not acceptable to the lead managers, I Sec. The JP Morgan arm is offloading 2.05 crore shares, or 10.09% stake, in the company, through the IPO. The entity, through its subsidiary JP Morgan Special Situations (Mauritius), holds a 25% stake in the company.

Sources say that the merchant bankers are not comfortable with a price of Rs 125 per share due to a change in market sentiment and investor outlook. However, the bankers declined any such differences over pricing. “There are no differences regarding the pricing of the issue,” said an official with ICICI Securities.

There is uncertainty in the market, especially in the cement sector, but, hopefully, the issue will open in the next few weeks, he added. The draft offer document for the issue was filed in November last year, and the market regulator has already issued some observations.

In fact, this is the second time that the document has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Since the observations have been issued by Sebi, the merchant bankers now have less than three months to open the issue. Merchant bankers, however, refused to comment about the observations made by the regulator.

Sources say that since this is the second time that the document has been filed, the bankers may fix a price band of Rs 100 to Rs 110 per share and go ahead with the issue. At a price of Rs 120 per share, JP Morgan will be able to net Rs 246 crore, and still hold nearly 15% in the company. JP Morgan had acquired the 25% stake in the company in September 2005 by purchasing equity from Binani Industries at Rs 24 per share. JP Morgan officials refused to comment on the issue, reports The Economic Times.

Gremach Infra to list on April 11

2007-04-10T08:04:00.000-09:00

Gremach Infrastructure Equipments and Projects, provider of construction and earthmoving machineries, will list on April 11 with 1,52,17,766 shares on Bombay Stock Exchange.

Its BSE ID is 532836 and the offer price fixed at Rs 86 per share.

The company had entered capital market with a public issue of Rs 59 crore through 100% book building process. Gremach public issue had subscribed 1.13 times with support of non-institutional investors.

R R Financial Consultants was the lead manager, Chartered Capital & Investment was the co lead manager and Intime Spectrum Registry was the registrar for the issue.

Hilton Metal sets IPO price at Rs 70; opens on Apr 18

2007-04-10T08:03:00.000-09:00

Hilton Metal Forging is entering capital market with an initial public offering, IPO of 54.5 lakh equity shares of Rs 10 each at a price Rs 70 per equity share inclusive of premium aggregating Rs 38.15 crore including 5000 shares being offered to Centrum Capital at Rs 70 per share. The net issue to the public is of 54.45 lakh shares aggregating Rs 38.11 crore.

The issue will constitute 43.8% of post issue paid up equity capital. ICRA has assigned IPO grade 2.

It opens on April 18 and closes on April 24, 2007.

The proceeds of the issue will be used for expansion of existing capacity from 11,100 MTA to 24,900 MTA by installing additional Plant & Machinery; setting up new building to manufacture the large size components and to meet the working capital margin requirement.

The company specializes in the manufacture of forgings for the oil, petrochemical, pharmaceutical and automobile industries and also planning to manufacture for other OEMs. It has expanded its activities to include other customers from Europe and other Asian countries.

Hilton is going to put up Forging Presses, Ring Rolling to capture the market of Oil and Gas sector and has started manufacturing forged valve components for O & G and Petrochem refineries.

For nine months FY07, the company posted net sales of Rs 40 crore; net profit of Rs 3.7 crore. The OPM stood at 11.2% and its diluted EPS is of Rs 3.01.

Cabinet may discuss Oil India's IPO plan soon

2007-04-10T08:01:00.000-09:00

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) may discuss a proposal for initial public offer of Oil India (OIL) by the end of this month or early next month. This may coincide with the end of the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

The Union Ministry for Petroleum and Natural Gas was already working on a draft proposal for 10% market float by issue of fresh equity shares of OIL. The centre currently owns about 98% equity in the unlisted company.

The upstream oil and gas PSU is hopeful of raising over Rs 1,500 crore through the IPO. The issue proceeds are expected to part finance OIL's exploration and production activities for the next five years.

"We are expecting the proposal to be placed before the Cabinet Committee end of this month once the UP elections are over," a source close to the development told.

Though responses were not readily available from the Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry on the issue, the Petroleum Minister, Murli Deora, had told in February that the proposal was "under consideration" but yet to be finalised.

According to sources, OIL is planning to invest Rs 15,000 crore in the next five years in exploration and production sector in India and abroad and another Rs 2,000 crore in refining. The board of directors of OIL recently approved a proposal to form a joint venture company with IndianOil for participation in overseas E&P projects, reports The Hindu Business Line.

DLF may split proposed Haryana area into twin SEZs

2007-04-10T07:59:00.000-09:00

Faced with the new rule on special economic zone (SEZ) that limit the maximum area to 5,000 hectares, India's largest real estate player DLF may split its proposed mega zone in Haryana into two tax free enclaves in the region.

"We have just started the process of acquiring the land. Now, there will be one SEZ of 5,000 hectare but if we get more land, we may set up another SEZ of 3,000 hectare in Gurgaon," a senior company official said.

DLF had proposed a multi-product SEZ in Gurgaon covering over 8,000 hectare. However, the Centre yesterday decided to fix a ceiling of 5,000 hectare for multi-product SEZs. Such zones earlier required a minimum of 1,000 hectare but there was no upper limit.

The Empowered Group of Ministers, which decided on new rules, did not specify whether promoters would be allowed to build two SEZs in a contiguous area.

DLF, which has already filed draft red herring prospectus for its proposed IPO, would also rework its investment plan in the wake of SEZ rules. The official said in case the company was allowed only one SEZ, its planned investment would come down by at least Rs 4,000 crore.

Another real estate firm Omaxe, which planned an SEZ on over 6,000 hectare would also 'go back to the drawing board' to chalk out the new strategies.

But the company maintained that as of now it would go ahead with SEZ plan even though the size has been curtailed. Incidentally, Omaxe also is in process of launching an IPO to raise Rs 1,500 crore.

Both the realty firms may also inform market regulator SEBI about changes in their SEZ plans, reports PTI.

Virtusa Corp files for IPO

2007-04-10T07:57:00.000-09:00

Technology outsourcing provider Virtusa Corporation has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering, IPO.

JP Morgan Securities Inc will be the sole book-running manager for the offering, with Bear Stearns & Co as the lead manager and Cowen and Company, LLC and William Blair & Company as co-managers.

However, the number of shares and the price range has not yet been determined.

The company founded in 1996 and headquartered in Massachusetts, has offices in the US and the UK and global delivery centres in Hyderabad, Chennai and in Sri Lanka.

According to some reports in the US, the IPO would potentially raise up to USD 90-100 million, and of this, funds would be utilised in expanding facilities in India and Sri Lanka and for working capital. The company has grown its operations over the last three years in India and its investors include Sigma Partners, Charles River Ventures, Globespan Capital Partners and Focus Ventures. It has secured some USD 20 million in funding about three years ago. The company had acquired about seven acres of land from the Andhra Pradesh Government to develop its own campus, reports The Hindu Business Line.

Fortis Healthcare: Funds to refinance debt of Escorts buy

2007-04-05T11:14:00.000-09:00

Fortis Healthcare - one of the largest private healthcare companies in India and a Ranbaxy promoter group company, is entering the capital market with an IPO of 45,996,439 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash, at a premium to be decided through a 100% book building process.

The price band for the issue has been fixed between Rs 92 and Rs 110 per equity share. The issue opens for subscription on April 16, 2007, and closes on April 20, 2007.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Shivinder Mohan Singh, Director of Ranbaxy Laboratories and one of the principal promoters of Fortis Healthcare said, We have four projects in the pipeline that we intend to roll out going forward. We are also working on host of projects, either acquisition or Greenfield projects going forward.

The average private equity pre IPO price that we listed was at Rs 144. We are looking at the upper price band of Rs 110, which is the 20% discount to pre IPO price. It is primarily to leave something on the table for investors coming in. Investors coming in for an IPO, looking for an immediate return, so Rs 144 is the kind of base price or benchmark, therefore we priced at lower levels, so that everybody benefits from day one on the stock, he added.

On the financial front

Shivinder Singh said, If we look at last financial year which we just finished - in that, if we would remove acquisition cost of Escorts from books, then actually the company is in cash profits already.

This IPO, part of proceeds are planned to refinance the debt, which we took for Escorts acquisition, which is actually a leveraged buyer. If we remove that and look at current growth, which is anywhere between 60% to 100% from couple of years in the past, then clearly we will be out of red into black very soon.

Based in Delhi, Fortis Healthcare, FHL, which acquired Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre in September 2005, has operations in Delhi, Noida, Mohali (Chandigarh), Amritsar, Faridabad, Raipur and Srinagar.

NHPC files DRHP with SEBI

2007-04-05T11:12:00.001-09:00

Kicking off the disinvestment process in power sector PSUs, National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) has filed a draft prospectus with Sebi for its proposed initial public offering (IPO).

The corporation would be issuing 10% fresh equity in the market, while the government would divest 5% stake in the corporation.

Post-IPO, government's stake in NHPC would come down to about 86.30%, sources said.

NHPC has a paid-up capital of Rs 10,600 crore and an authorised share capital of Rs 15,000 crore.

The corporation is planning to hit the capital market by June this year, sources said, reports Business Standard.

Godrej Properties plans IPO to fund expansion

2007-04-05T11:10:00.000-09:00

Godrej Properties, the real estate arm of the Rs 6,500-crore Godrej Group, plans to tap the capital market for funds during the current financial year.

Confirming this, Milind Korde, managing director, Godrej Properties, said, We are in the process of appointing merchant bankers to do a due diligence.

Godrej Industries owns 81.69% of Godrej Properties.

We will float an IPO at the right time. We are currently finalising the modalities and will decide the structure very soon, Korde said. He did not rule out a pre-IPO preferential placement.

Godrej Properties is currently developing properties across several metros. It plans to develop properties admeasuring about 20 million sq ft in Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai. These include residential, IT parks and commercial establishments.

The real estate player plans to convert the IT Park its developing at Hyderabad, spread over 6 million sq ft, into an IT-SEZ, Korde said. Godrej Properties had purchased the property on an outright basis from Rallis India, a Tata Group company.

The company is also looking at developing an integrated state-of-the-art township in Mumbai (Kalyan) and Bangalore with an area of 1 million plus sq ft.

Godrej Properties is now shoring up its land bank. We have entered into MoUs with land owners for acquiring several tracts of land. The process is underway and would materialise very soon, he said.

Commenting on the rising home loan rates Korde said, The high rate of interest is a sentimental issue in the short term. However, demand is still high, with salary levels going up.

Korde said the real estate players need to realise that only a model based on reasonable pricing with huge volumes could eventually work, reports DNA Money.

Coal India public offer likely in FY08

2007-04-04T08:25:00.001-09:00

Coal India is likely to enter capital markets with a public offer in FY08.

CIL has an equity base of Rs 6,316 crore. It is the holding company of seven coal producing companies.

They are: Northern Coalfields, South Eastern Coalfields, Western Coalfields, Mahanadi Coalfields, Eastern Coalfields, Bharat Coking Coal and Central Coalfields.

CIL is also the holding company of Coal Mining and Development Planning Institution, the R&D arm.

According to the plans, CIL is likely to go public and not its subsidiaries.

Fortis Healthcare fixes IPO price band at Rs 92-110

2007-04-04T08:22:00.001-09:00

Fortis Healthcare, one of the largest private healthcare companies in India and a Ranbaxy promoter group company, is entering the capital market with an initial public offer (IPO) of 45,996,439 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash at a premium to be decided through a 100% book building process.

The company proposes to allot 242,476 equity shares to eligible employees in the firm allotment portion. The price band for the issue has been fixed between Rs 92 and Rs 110 per equity share.

The issue opens for subscription on April 16, 2007, and closes on April 20, 2007. The net issue is expected to constitute 20.19% of the post-Issue paid-up equity share capital of the company. The shares are proposed to be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange.

The company has concluded pre-IPO allotments of 10,670,194 equity shares with four entities at prices ranging from Rs 135 to Rs 159.50 per share aggregating to Rs 1,536.90 million during the period between January 05, 2007, and March 20, 2007. These entities are Raj Kumar Bagri (1,000,000 equity shares), Apurv Bagri (1,000,000 equity shares), Trinity Capital (Eight) (8,000,000 equity shares) and Vasco Inc. (670,194 equity shares).

Shivinder Mohan Singh, managing director, Fortis Healthcare, said, “According to CRIS-INFAC, socio-economic and demographic changes within certain segments of the Indian population, particularly in urban areas, have created increased demand for advanced healthcare services. There is a growing awareness and sophistication amongst healthcare consumers, who are demanding more services. There is also an increase in the incidence of ‘lifestyle’ diseases such as cancer, diabetes and cardio-vascular diseases, which are more expensive to treat than communicable and infectious diseases.”

Of the net issue to the public, at least 60% shall be allotted to qualified institutional buyers (QIB). Within the QIB portion, 5% will be available for allocation to mutual funds only. Not less than 10% of the net issue will be available for allocation to non-institutional bidders and the balance of not less than 30% of the Net Issue will be available for allocation to retail investors, in each case on a proportionate basis.

The book running lead managers to the issue are J M Morgan Stanley Private Limited, Citigroup Global Markets India Private Limited and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited.

Based in Delhi, Fortis Healthcare, FHL, which acquired Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre in September 2005, has operations in Delhi, Noida, Mohali (Chandigarh), Amritsar, Faridabad, Raipur and Srinagar. It currently has a network of 11 hospitals primarily in North India and 16 satellite and heart command centres, including one heart command centre in Afghanistan. These hospitals include multi specialty hospitals, as well as super-specialty centres providing tertiary and quaternary healthcare to patients in areas such as cardiac care, orthopedics, neurosciences, oncology, renal care, gastroenterology and mother and child care. The hospitals that FHL manages include Fortis La Femme, a "boutique" style hospital that focuses on women's health and maternity care. FHL has the capacity to increase inpatient beds to approximately 1,790 beds and has performed more than 5,000 open heart surgeries, 5,000 angioplasties and 15,000 angiographies in the last fiscal year.

Central Bank shortlists 5 bankers for public offer

2007-04-04T08:20:00.000-09:00

Central Bank of India, a mid-sized Mumbai-based public sector bank, has finalised five merchant bankers for its initial public offer. The IPO, expected by end-May 2007, is expected to raise around Rs 1,000 crore equity capital.

Central Bank of India, a mid-sized Mumbai-based public sector bank, has finalised five merchant bankers for its initial public offer (IPO). The IPO, expected by end-May 2007, is expected to raise around Rs 1,000 crore equity capital.

The bank has received all regulatory clearances for converting about 71% of its large equity base into preference shares. The proposal for conversion of shares, which was stuck at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), was recently cleared by the government.

The RBI was averse to allowing banks to convert 70% of their equity into preference shares. Earlier, the RBI had sought to put 40% cap on conversion of equity into preference shares.

Central Bank officials said of the Rs 1,124.14 crore equity capital, Rs 800 crore would be converted into preference shares. The conversion will lower the bank’s paid-up equity capital to Rs 324.14, which will help the bank price its IPO better as its earnings per share improve.

The bank has appointed IDBI Capital markets, Kotak Securities, ICICI Securities, Citigroup and Enam Financials as the lead book-runners.

The bank is negotiating with the government for the coupon rate on the preference shares. The government wants a floating coupon rate of 100 basis points above the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) repo rate, which is currently at 7.75%. The RBI lends overnight funds to banks at the repo rate.

Central Bank, which had planned to get listed in the fourth quarter of 2006-07, as on December 31, 2006, had a total business of Rs 1,21,301 crore, comprising deposits of Rs 74,974 crore and advances of Rs 46,327 crore, reports Business Standard.

Sebi plans 20% upper price band for relisting of stocks

2007-04-04T08:12:00.000-09:00

SEBI proposes to introduce a maximum upper limit to shares on the first trading session post demerger, amalgamation, capital reduction, scheme of arrangements and revocation of suspension. The regulator has put up a concept note on this on its website and invited suggestions from the public.

The maximum intraday upper limit for such stocks would be 20%, barring for those in the trade-to-trade segment, where the ceiling would be 5%. The market regulator’s proposal, however, does not include IPO listings. The move is aimed at checking price rises, beyond a certain limit, on the day of re-listing. Currently, circuit filters on shares are not operational on the first day of the re-listing so as to allow the market to arrive at what they see as a fair value for the share — also called price discovery.

The base price for calculating the circuit filters on the day of re-listing will be based on the indicative price or fair value from the merchant banker, who will furnish to the stock exchange the methodology used for arriving at the price.

Such controls by the market regulator is against the backdrop of instances where share prices of select companies, which made their debut on the bourses, saw sharp movements. It was suspected that the sharp upmoves were being engineered by a group of investors acting in concert.

Merchant bankers and industry observers are not too enthused with the proposal, though they have heaved a sign of relief that it does not extend to IPOs at the moment. But, they are not ruling out such limits for IPOs too in the foreseeable future.

“When a company chooses to delist, it arrives at a valuation formula on its own and the market has no role to play in it. Hence when the company re-lists on the exchange — the market should be given an opportunity to determine the price,” said Prithvi Haldea, managing director, Prime Database, a firm tracking IPOs.

Merchant bankers believe imposing of circuit filters on IPOs could reduce the participation of retail investors in the primary market. This is because a large chunk of the retail investments in IPOs are on borrowed money and they look at selling the share on the first day of the listing itself. A circuit filter on the first trading day for IPOs will limit the returns for such investors, who are looking at making some quick profits.

“The intention is good, but it distorts the natural price discovery mechanism, which is not good for the market. Rather than such steps, the market regulator should look at introducing short-selling at the earliest,” said a merchant banker, reports The Economic Times.

SEBI says can probe complaints against DLF

2007-04-04T08:09:00.000-09:00

Doing a U-turn on the DLF IPO case, market regulator SEBI has submitted before the Delhi High Court that it can probe complaints against companies that intend to get listed.

"There is no direct bar (on investigation) in the case of non-listed companies," the SEBI counsel informed the bench headed by Justice Tirath Singh Thakur in response to a query whether there was any direct bar against such probe in the SEBI Act.

Securities and Exchange Board of India, earlier in its affidavit, had said that it cannot investigate complaints made against the real estate major as it was an unlisted company.

It had then said that the Ministry of Company Affairs was the right authority to deal with grievances in case of non- listed companies.

SEBI's U-turn came yesterday during hearing on a PIL by Society for Consumers' Investors and Protection (SCIP), which had sought a probe into DLF's conversion of debentures into equity shares.

The counsel for petitioner B R Schadeva cited the provisions under SEBI Act and Companies Act, which said that SEBI can investigate complaints against those companies which intend to get listed. In this case, DLF had filed red herring prospectus with SEBI, which clearly showed that the company wanted to get listed on the exchange.

The court later declined to pass any interim order on staying the proposed over Rs 10,000 crore IPO by DLF, saying that "you (petitioner) have always remedy available to approach this court."

BEML plans Rs 440cr follow-on issue in June

2007-04-03T07:51:00.001-09:00

Bharat Earth Movers, BEML has slated its public issue - to raise Rs 440 crore by offloading 49 lakh shares - for the first half of June this year.

The follow-on issue will mainly finance the modernisation and expansion plans of its metro coach production infrastructure at Bangalore, V.R.S. Natarajan, chairman and managing director of the defence public enterprise, told a news conference on Monday. Internal accruals would partly fund the expansion - Rs 230 crore for metro infrastructure and Rs 150 crore for modern machinery.

The plan is to raise the output to around 300 coaches a year to meet the estimated demand for 1,000 coaches in a couple of years as many States have announced metro projects. Metro and rail coach business is around 10-15% of the turnover; mining and construction equipment around 55%; and 35-40% is from defence orders. Currently, the Government of India holds 61.23% of the shares in BEML; UTI, banks and FIs hold 23.12%; and non-institutional investors 15.65%. The BEML scrip closed Rs 21.5 lower at Rs 1,061 in a day of falling indices.

Salex tax reprieve

The Karnataka Government's five-year sales tax exemption for metro coaches would give it a competitive edge in bidding for the Delhi metro and other projects, Natarajan said. DMRC alone has placed a bid for 312 coaches.

Part of the issue proceeds will also foot the VRS bill of Rs 90 crore to cover 1,000-1,200 unskilled workers over the next five years.

Currently, around 100 employees are opting to exit each year and this number may rise.

BEML is strengthening and retaining its engineering pool and hiring 200-300 diploma and graduate engineers a year. "Now that we have gone in for ERP, the dependence on clerical staff will come down," Mr Natarajan said.

A Rs 25-crore captive wind energy project is being planned at Chitradurga through a turnkey contract with Suzlon.

Profits up 10%

BEML closed the just ended 2006-07 year with a provisional profit before tax of Rs 315 crore, or 10% growth year on year. Provisional turnover was up 18% recording its highest ever figure of Rs 2,600 crore. Exports were Rs 110.05 crore. The larger plan is to touch Rs 5,000 crore by 2013, its 50th year.

For the current year, Natarajan said the company had a sales target of Rs 3,200 crore and exports of Rs 125 crore.

The order book of Rs 1,617 crore was likely to swell to Rs 2,300 crore as more orders are coming, he said, reports The Hindu Business Line.

KPR Mill files DRHP with SEBI

2007-04-03T07:50:00.001-09:00

The Coimbatore-based KPR Mill has filed the draft red herring prospectus, DRHP with SEBI for a public issue to raise funds through the book-building route.

The public float involves issue of 59,12,100 equity shares of Rs 10 each constituting 15.69% of the fully diluted post-issue equity share capital of the company.

Expansion plans

In the objects of the issue, the company stated that it has planned to expand the capacity at its garment facility at Arasur near Coimbatore and at the processing facility at the SIPCOT industrial complex at Perundurai in Erode district.

It will use part of the proceeds of the public issue to invest in a new knitting unit at Arasur and in installing windmills at Thandyarkulam in Tirunelveli district, besides for acquiring balancing equipments for its spinning mill at Sathyamangalam and for other corporate purposes.

The company would be utilising Rs 18.27 crore for the expansion of garment facility at Arasur, Rs 39.7 crore for the expansion of the processing facility at SIPCOT, Perundurai, Rs 25.9 crore on the knitting facility planned at Arasur and Rs 56.2 crore on the installation of windmills in Tirunelveli district.

For the addition of balancing equipments at its Sathyamangalam spinning facility, it would spend Rs 13.8 crore.

The company has not incurred any expenditure on these projects at the time of filing of the draft prospectus.

At Arasur, apart from acquiring new machinery, it also would be establishing a fully computerised design studio that would enable users to view clothing designs on a virtual 3D figure.

Windmills

The windmill project involves installation of 5 windmills with a total generating capacity of 8.25 MW.

The company exports much of its readymade knitted garments. Among its overseas clients are Carrefour, Penneys (Primark), Pom-tex, C& A, Ethel Austin etc.

It produced 11.16 million pieces of readymade knitted apparel during the year ending March 31, 2006 and in the first nine months of the current fiscal, the production was 7.31 million pieces, reports The Hindu Business Line.

Advanta India fixes issue price at Rs 640

2007-04-03T07:49:00.001-09:00

Advanta India, an international agronomic seed company with principal operations in India, Australia, Thailand and Argentina, and a subsidiary of United Phosphorus, has fixed the issue price for its initial public offering, IPO of 3,380,000 equity shares of Rs 10 for cash at a premium that was decided through the 100% book-building process at Rs 640 per equity share. The price band for the issue was fixed between Rs 600 and Rs 650 per equity share.

The subscription to the issue closed on March 30, 2007, and the issue was subscribed 3.98 times. The issue received good response from qualified institutional buyers and the QIB portion was subscribed 6.47 times with over 1.31 crore shares bid against reserve portion of 20.28 lakh shares.

The shares are proposed to be listed on the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Headquartered in Bangalore, Advanta India Limited is a subsidiary of United Phosphorus, one of the leading generic agrochemical companies in the world with operations in the United States, Australia, China, Latin America and Europe. The company, including its operating subsidiaries, is engaged in the research, production and sales of a range of hybrid seeds for cereals and oilseed crops. It is a global leader in technical plant breeding and in the application of biotechnology to develop new hybrids and varieties of field crops and broad acre vegetable seed products.

The book running lead managers to the issue are YES Bank, UBS Securities India and SSKI Corporate Finance.

Motilal Oswal to enter capital markets; plans expansion

2007-04-02T08:32:00.000-09:00

Motilal Oswal Financial Services (MOFSL), a financial services company focused on wealth creation for all its customers such as institutional and corporate clients, HNI and retail customers, proposes to expand its financing activity and to strengthen its balance sheet as also to infuse funds into subsidiaries to support its growth plans.

Its services and product offering includes retail wealth management (securities broking, commodities broking), institutional broking, investment banking as well as venture capital advisory. For ease of administration and regulatory compliance, some of its business activities are carried on through its subsidiaries

MOFSL is the holding company of Motilal Oswal Securities (MOSL-broking business), Motilal Oswal Commodities Brokers Pvt Ltd (MOCB-commodity business), Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors Pvt Ltd (MOIA-investment banking business) and Motilal Oswal Venture Capital Advisors Pvt Ltd (MOVC-venture capital advisory).

Last year private equity investors New Vernon Private Equity Limited and Bessemer Venture Partners Trust bought a 9.47% stake in the company for Rs 518.9/- per share (the face value per share being Rs 5/-).

Two of its promoters, Motilal Oswal and Raamdeo Agarwal, are qualified chartered accountants and experienced professionals in the financial services industry with significant experience. MOFSL is co-promoted by Passionate Investment Management Private Limited.

Motilal Oswal is an established brand among retail and institutional investors in India. It's registered retail customer base exceeds 200,000 which it services through 1160 Business Locations spread across 363 cities. It is also empanelled with 240 institutional clients including 150 FII clients. In 2005 and 2006, Asiamoney brokers poll, awarded it the Most Independent Research Brokerage amongst Hedge Funds. Its research team of 28 analysts tracks 208 companies in 25 sectors and 5 analysts covering 18 commodities.

In less than a year the investment banking business has closed 7 transactions and has another 30 mandates in hand. The venture capital advisory business was appointed as the advisor of a private equity fund: the India Business Excellence Fund, which was launched with a target of raising USD 100 million. In its first closing, in December 2006, the Fund obtained commitments of USD 37.15 million.

Motilal Oswal Financial Services proposes to infuse funds into MOSL and in MOCB in the form of a subscription for their equity shares, unsecured loan or any combination thereof. Such capital infusion will help strengthen their respective balance sheets and thus enable them to increase trading volumes in the equities and commodities market. MOFSL provides a financing facility to its retail broking customers. MOFSL proposes to enhance this financing facility.

To fund its expansion plans, MOFSL proposes to enter the capital market with a public issue of 2,982,710 equity shares of Rs 5 each at a premium through a 100% book building process. It has filed draft red herring prospectus with SEBI for this purpose. Citigroup Global Markets India is the BRLM for the issue.

For the nine months ended December 31, 2006, the company's consolidated revenue and net profit was Rs. 2,696.95 million (USD 61.14 million) and Rs 496.24 million (USD 11.25 million), respectively, as per press release.

RPG weighs IPO option to fund retail expansion

2007-04-02T08:31:00.000-09:00

RPG Enterprises is planning to set up 20 Spencer's stores, one of the largest supermarket chain, in different formats in Kolkata.

It recently opened the first two Spencer's Dailies in Kolkata that stock about 5000 products including fresh fruits and vegetables, personal and home care products, food and grocery.

The company has earmarked an investment of close to Rs 1,000 crore for expansion throughout the country.

Although majority of the funds would be raised through internal accruals, RPG Enterprises also proposes to raise funds through an IPO for its retail expansion plans, but it could opt for a public issue, private equity or private placement.

"This would be announced in the next 12 months," informed Sanjiv Goenka, vice-chairman, RPG Enterprises.

The company expects 25-30% of its total revenues to come from its retail business, from the present 5%, with the Rs 11,000 crore RPG group's retail business expected to touch close to Rs 700 crore in 2006-07. The company recently inaugurated 2 of its Daily formats in Kolkata and plans to open four Hypers this year.

The city would soon have RPG's biggest hypermarket of India covering 74,000 sq ft, larger than the one it opened in Gurgaon that covers close to 65,000 sq ft, Goenka said. These would offer more than 25,000 products - groceries, fresh fruits and vegetables, home appliances, white goods and luggage, at competitive pricing.

Kolkata would also have two more hypermarkets, functional by July this year, of close to 40,000 sq ft and 55,000 sq ft, with the state's first Hypermarket scheduled to be inaugurated before April 15 in Durgapur.

"We are looking at setting up stores in lucrative tier II towns and cities also including Aurangabad, Trichy, Madurai, Mangalore and Durgapur ," Goenka said.

RPG, at present, has a total of 400 retail outlets which is expected to grow to 2000 stores by 2009 and 4000 by 2011.

At present, there are 125 Spencer's stores across 25 cities in India, comprising 8 Hypermarkets, 5 Spencer's Super Stores, 104 Spencer's Daily, 3 Spencer's Fresh stores, and 5 Spencer's Express stores, reports Business Standard.

IPO grading: Help or hindrance?

2007-03-30T10:52:00.000-09:00

During a press meet, Sebi Chairman M Damodaran mentioned that an IPO grading product has been put in place for benefit of the average Indian investor. The product may eventually cover rights, as well as follow-on public issues.

The product seeks to analyse fundamentals of the companies to give a sense of direction to the investors, so that they can invest wisely. But the market regulator notes that the IPO grading will not be a determinant of the valuation call on the company. In other words, the IPO grading will not address the pricing issue.

Commenting on the same, MD and CEO of Crisil, R Ravimohan mentions that IPO grading will answer questions on the fundamentals of the company. According to him, RoE (Return on Equity) and EPS (Earnings Per Share) will be key factors that will be focussed on in valuing a company.

Anand Tandon of Gryffon Investment Advisors believes that the intent of Sebi is to ensure that the retail investors have a platform by which they can easily judge whether the IPO itself is worth investing in. So, in his view, the objective is laudable.

Read more

Advanta India IPO subscribed 4 times

2007-03-30T10:51:00.000-09:00

Advanta India, an international agronomic seed company and a subsidiary of United Phosphorus, has received good response from investors, especially foreign institutional investors; their portion has subscribed 1.48 times, till March 29.

More than 1.34 crore bids have been put against its issue size, which includes 2.45 lakh bids at cut off price.

The issue was subscribed 3.98 times, till 5.30 pm on March 30, as per NSE website.

It has been received good response from investors, especially foreign institutional investors; their portion has subscribed 1.48 times, till March 29.

The company had entered capital market with an initial public offering, IPO of 33,80,000 equity shares of Rs 10 for cash at a premium to be decided through the 100% book-building process.

The price band was between Rs 600 and Rs 650 per equity share. The issue will constitute 20.08% of the post-issue paid-up capital of the company. The shares will be listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange.

The issue is being made through the 100% book building process wherein at least 60% of the issue must be allotted on a proportionate basis to qualified institutional buyers (QIBs). Further, 5% of the QIB portion must be available for allocation to mutual funds only and the remaining QIB Portion must be available for allocation to the QIB bidders including mutual funds, subject to valid bids being received at or above the issue price.

Further, up to 10% of the issue must be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to non-institutional bidders and up to 30% of the issue must be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to retail individual bidders, subject to valid bids being received at or above the issue price. The company has allotted 1,677,000 equity shares to a group of investors at a price of Rs 625 per equity share under the pre-issue placement pursuant to a resolution of the board of directors dated February 23, 2007.

Headquartered in Bangalore, Advanta India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of United Phosphorus, one of the leading generic agrochemical companies in the world with operations in the United States, Australia, China , Latin America and Europe. The company, including its operating subsidiaries, is engaged in the research, production and sales of a range of hybrid seeds for cereals and oilseed crops; and is a global leader in technical plant breeding and in the application of biotechnology to develop new hybrids and varieties of field crops and broad acre vegetable seed products.

For the year ended March 31, 2006, the company posted unconsolidated income of Rs 435.44 million and profit after tax of Rs 44.52 million. During the seven month period ended October 31, 2006, the company posted unconsolidated income of Rs 598.79 million and profit after tax of Rs 282.38 million. The results for the seven month period ended October 31, 2006, include the business of USBPL, which was amalgamated with the company with effect from April 1, 2006.

The book running lead managers to the issue are Yes Bank, UBS Securities India and SSKI Corporate Finance.

Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs to manage FLAG Tele IPO

2007-03-30T10:47:00.000-09:00

Reliance Communications has appointed Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs to manage the proposed initial public offering, IPO for its international undersea cable subsidiary FLAG Telecom.

Morgan Stanley and UBS were among those who were considered by Reliance. The company is expected to divest 10-15% of its equity in FLAG Telecom, which will be listed on the London Stock Exchange. At present, FLAG is a 100% subsidiary of Reliance Communications.

The IPO proceeds will be used to part-finance the USD 1.5-billion expansion plans announced last year that include laying 50,000 km fresh undersea cable.

According to company sources, the initial valuation of the undersea cable firm is estimated to be about USD 2 billion as per the numbers worked out by merchant bankers.

The expansion plan for FLAG will add extra capacity for voice calls, Internet and multimedia services.

The fibre-optic cable would eventually reach 60 countries and connect 5 billion global customers.

FLAG would have the capability to carry 2.5 billion simultaneous voice calls, 300 million simultaneous web chats, 52 million simultaneous video chats and enabling 20 million students in educational institutions of India to offer e-learning simultaneously.

FLAG has an established customer base of more than 200 leading operators, including all the top 10 international carriers.

It owns and manages an extensive next generation optical fibre network spanning four continents, connecting 37 key business markets in Asia, Europe, West Asia and the US, reports The Hindu Business Line.

Mumbai University may seek stock market listing

2007-03-30T10:45:00.000-09:00

When finance minister P Chidambaram said he wanted to make Mumbai Asia's financial hub, he certainly wouldn't have imagined the folks at Mumbai University latching on to every word of his.

But quite obviously, they did. Why else would a proposal come up to convert the university into a company and get itself listed on the stock exchange?

The idea, which some experts politely described as "unusual", is among nine new initiatives chalked out by the university's top brass for the coming academic year.

"Several universities in developed countries have listed themselves on the stock markets. Of late, several prominent universities in China and Korea have followed suit. University of Mumbai will be the first Indian state university to do so," said the ebullient vice-chancellor, Vijay Khole.

While several universities in the UK, Australia and China have their shares traded on the US Nasdaq, most of these are privately run institutions owned by corporate groups.

There is no existing model for a subsidised, state-run university to go public. For a 150-year-old university, among the first to be set up in India, the listing is seen as a prelude to raising funds from the market for future expansion.

How that squares with the institution's objective to provide quality higher education without a profit motive is unclear.

Some members of the budget committee feel the university may be accused of turning profit-driven, but at a time when funds are scarce, they feel the government must look at loosening the financial structure so that the university can "breathe".

In Khole's words, "The idea is once we are up on the stock exchange, our credibility increases among parents, students, donors and corporates too."

He may have a point. During the university's sesquicentennial celebrations last year, despite fervent appeals to a distinguished alumni, Khole and his team managed to net just about Rs 3 lakh.

Obviously, they are hoping the market will treat them better. To set the ball rolling, the university budget passed on Thursday has Rs 2-lakh provision to prepare a feasibility report on listing the varsity on BSE.

The university, which is governed by Maharashtra Universities Act, 1994, will require a major overhaul to convert itself into a public limited company, said Venkatesh Kumar, a member of the varsity's budget committee.

Sources say once the feasibility study is done, officials are looking at listing the varsity on the BSE in early 2008, reports The Times of India.

Ammana Bio Pharma Ltd. Issue Open on 28th March 2007

2007-03-29T09:12:00.000-09:00

Issue Open 28/03/2007
Issue Close 05/04/2007
Issue Size Rs. 22.66 Crore
Issue Type Book Building
Face Value Rs.10/-
Price Range Rs.12/- to Rs.14/-
Tick Size Re.1/-
Market Lot 500
Minimum Order Qty 500

Listing Stock Exchange Mumbai, NSE.
Registrar To The Issue Bigshare Services Pvt. Ltd.
Book Running Lead Managers Centrum Capital Ltd.

Registered Office Address Mouli Gram, Elkatur, H/O MSVM Puram, Panchayath, Nindra Mandalam, Chittoor Dist., Andhra Pradesh.
Phone 91-8577-270669 Fax 91-8577-270655
Email complianceofficer@ammanabio.com
Website Ammana Bio Pharma Ltd.

Analysis

Background:

Ammana Bio Pharma Ltd (ABPL) was incorporated in 1994 as Mouli Creations Pvt Ltd to carry on media business . Its name was subsequently changed to Ammana Multimedia Pvt Ltd in 1999. In 2002 company diversified into Bio-Pharma activities and was named to Ammana Bio Pharma Pvt Ltd. ABPL was converted into a public limited company on 27th May 2005.
ABPL is mainly into manufacturing of Ethanol and will enter into the production of RS (rectified spirit), alcohol, potable pharma grade alcohol and ENA (extra neutral alcohol) post issue.
ABPL’s manufacturing unit is at Andhra Pradesh and is catering to the needs of public sector oil company’s units, bottling companies, pharma and paint industries.
The existing installed capacity of plant (Ethanol) is 9,000 KLPA (kilo liters per annum) with the capacity utilization of 90% in FY07 (till year end).
ABPL began its commercial production in March 2006 and has a market share of 19.17% in Andhra Pradesh and less than 1% in India.
ABPL is the only stand-alone unit & exclusive ethanol manufacturing company as compared to others in the industry. The company is operative in the Andhra Pradesh and faces competition from KCP Sugars Limited, Andhra Sugars Limited and GMR Sugars.
ABPL has an early move advantage. In spite of stringent licensing policies of regulatory authorities, ABPL is one of those companies adhering to CPCB norms and necessary infrastructure is being installed in the company.

Objects of the issue:

Expansion of existing unit by installing plant & machinery to produce 30,000 liters per day of Extra Neutral Alcohol .
Setting-up of Sweet Sorghum Project at the existing unit, to produce Rectified Spirits by using sweet sorghum as the feedstock.

Valuations:

The results of FY06 are not comparable with FY05 as ABPL began its commercial production in March 2006.
Return on net worth (RONW) has increased from 0.97% in FY05 to 45.43% in FY06. For the nine months ended RONW stood at 462.08%.
Book value per share as on December 31, 2006 is Rs. 9.41.
Post issue annualized EPS based on December 2006 earning is Rs.0.28 - Rs. 0.33. The shares are being offered in a price band of Rs. 12/- to Rs. 14/-. Post issue PE ranges from 35.6 to 48.4.

Source :- Indiabulls

Advanta India Ltd.Issue Open on 26th March

2007-03-29T09:03:00.000-09:00

Issue Open 26/03/2007
Issue Close 30/03/2007
Issue Size 33,80,000 Equity Shares
Issue Type Book Building
Face Value Rs.10/-
Price Range Rs.600/- to Rs.650/-
Tick Size Re.1/-
Market Lot 10
Minimum Order Qty 10

Listing Stock Exchange Mumbai, NSE
Registrar To The Issue Sharepro Services (India) Pvt. Ltd.
Book Running Lead Managers Yes Bank Ltd., UBS Securities India Pvt. Ltd., SSKI Corporate Finance Pvt. Ltd.

Registered Office Address 405, 4th Floor, ‘A’ Wing, Carlton Towers No. 1, Airport Road, Bangalore - 560 008
Phone 91- 80 - 25209941 Fax 91- 80 - 25207510
Email ipo@advantaindia.com
Website Advanta India Ltd.

Analysis

Background:

* Advanta India Ltd. (AIL) was incorporated in the year 1994 as ITC Zeneca Ltd. (A joint venture between ITC India Ltd.and Zeneca Ltd.). In the year 1998 it changed it’s name to the present one. AIL became a wholly owned subsidiary of United Phosphorus Ltd (UPL) after being acquired in February 2006.
* AIL is involved in delivering complete crop solution with research, development, production and marketing of superior high yielding hybrid seeds.
* AIL has its operations in India, Australia, Thailand and Argentina. In India company is active in the research, production and sales of a range of hybrid cereal and oilseed crops. Company’s key crops in India are rice, sunflower, corn, millet, grain sorghum, forage sorghum and mustard.
* AIL has three subsidiaries to cater its international operations viz. Pacific Seeds Pvt Ltd (Australia), Pacific Seeds (Thai) Ltd (Thailand) and Advanta Semillas S.A.I.C (Argentina).
* Post issue promoters/promoters group shareholding will be 65. 97% as against 82.54% at present.

Objects of the issue are:

* To invest in subsidiary.
* To raise funds for working capital requirements.
* For general corporate purpose.
* To achieve the benefits of stock exchange listing.

Strengths:

* AIL’s global product portfolio consists of a wide range of hybrid seed varieties, including sunflower, rice, corn, rapeseed mustard, grain sorghum, forage sorghum, canola and oats allowing company to cater to a wider market.
* AIL has access to a broad portfolio of proprietary germplasm (genetic material which allow growers to maximize the use of their arable land) that is at the core of company’s competitive advantage in the market. This asset is not easily replicable and takes decades to develop and deploy.
* Considering the shortage of arable land in the country and pressure from urbanization and industrial uses (Policy like SEZ) leading to continual pressure to increase the productivity of available resources. Scenario like this is best suited for companies engaged in increasing per hectare productivity like AIL (by manufacturing of hybrid seeds).
* Companies in the seed industry need access to a broad germplasm bank and adequate capital to develop products over long periods of time, this act as a strong barrier to entry.

Weakness:

* AIL is in the business of manufacturing hybrid seeds which require significant investment in Research and Development. On an average it takes 8 years for a seed variety to reach commercial viability making the development process for new varieties of seeds lengthy and costly.
* The seed business is highly seasonal which may lead to inaccurate forecast of demand for any seed variety and can result in the unavailability of seeds that are in high demand or oversupply of seeds where demand is comparatively low. This fluctuation may depress sales volumes and adversely affect AIL’s financials.
* In most segments of the market, the number of products available to the growers steadily increasing with the introduction of new products. As a result company will continue to face new and different competitive challenges in attracting a sufficient number of qualified contract growers.
* There was a downturn in company’s operational performance in FY 06 vis-à-vis that in FY05. Company’s gross margin fell from 17.5% in FY05 to 12.7% in FY06 and net margin fell from 15.2% in FY05 to 10.2% in FY06.

Valuation:

* AIL was restructured in March 2006 hence the company’s present financials are not comparable with its past financials.
* Company’s net worth as on October 31, 2006 stood at Rs. 120 crores. While book value per share is at Rs. 115.17 per equity share as on October 31, 2006.
* Post issue annualized EPS on the basis of October earnings is Rs. 12.07. Shares are being offered at a price band of Rs.600 to Rs. 650. At P/E multiple of 49.7 to 53.8. Industry is trading at an average P/E of 18.4.

Peer Group Analysis for FY 2006

* Data as on 31 st Dec 2005

Source :- Indiabulls

IPO grading to help average Indian investor: Sebi

2007-03-29T09:00:00.001-09:00

During a press meet, Sebi Chairman, M Damodaran, says that the IPO grading product has been put in place for the average Indian investor.

The grading may eventually cover rights as well as follow-on public issues. It seeks to analyse fundamentals of companies, he adds.

However, Damodaran added that the IPO grading will not address the pricing of the issue, as it will not act as a determine the valuation call on the company.

Sebi to process Gammon unit IPO papers

2007-03-29T08:59:00.001-09:00

Gammon India said the Securities Appellate Tribunal has passed an interim order directing the Securities and Exchange Board of India to process its subsidiary's draft document for an initial public offering, IPO.

The tribunal also admitted the appeal filed by Gammon's subsidiary, Gammon Infrastructure Projects (GIPL), against a Sebi order, which "denied GIPL access to the capital market for a period of one year," it said on Wednesday. On February 6, the stock market regulator had barred Gammon's subsidiary Gammon Infrastructure Projects from proceeding with its initial public offer, for a year.

Last year in December, Sebi had barred Gammon, its chairman Abhijit Rajan and two other entities from any transaction in the shares of Gammon Infrastructure for three years from the date of allotment in its issue.

Sebi was investigating the use of company funds for a rights issue and failure to make certain disclosures, reports The Economic Times.

Volatile markets force six cos to withdraw IPO documents

2007-03-29T08:57:00.002-09:00

IPO lead managers of at least six companies have, since January, withdrawn maiden public float offer documents submitted to capital market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

The six companies having second thoughts thanks to the stock market volatility are Saamya Biotech (India), MSPL, Embross Autocomp, Stesalit, SRS Entertainment, and Decolight Ceramics.

Over the past three months, the stock market has been on a rollercoaster ride, with the benchmark 30-share BSE Sensex closing at 14,000 points on January 4 only to tank to 13,303 on January 11. It recovered and hit an all-time high of 14,723.88 points on February 9. The Sensex closed at 13,124 on March 26 (markets were closed on Tuesday on account of Ram Navami).

Interestingly, 2007 witnessed the listing of 36 new entities, of which stocks of 25 companies (roughly 70%) are still trading at a discount over their issue price.

Said Alex K Mathew, head (research), Geojit Financial Services: As long as market volatility remains high and liquidity remains low, many promoters will rethink hitting the primary market. They may even look for other ways like private placements to raise funds for the time being.

Several other companies, including real estate major DLF, which was planning the countrys single-largest IPO, to raise Rs 10,000-12,000 crore, have deferred their public float plans after filing draft offer documents with Sebi,

Rel Comm shortlists 4 merchant bankers for FLAG IPO

2007-03-29T08:57:00.001-09:00

Reliance Communication has decided for overseas public offer for its international communication subsidiary FLAG Telecom, for which it has shortlisted four merchant bankers.

Sources said Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and UBS were shortlisted for the process, which would see RCOM divesting 10-15% equity.

FLAG Telecom will be listed on the London Stock Exchange. FLAG is a 100% subsidiary of Reliance Communication.

The proceeds raised from the IPO will be used to part finance expansion plans announced last year, which include laying 50,000 km fresh undersea cable in regions where there is dearth of international bandwidth. The expansion plan could entail an investment of about 1.5 billion dollar (nearly Rs 7,000 crore).

ITC Infotech plans to hit capital market

2007-03-29T08:54:00.000-09:00

ITC Infotech, IT services company and fully owned subsidiary of ITC, is planning to go public. Although no date has been finalised when the company is planning to hit the capital market, ITC Chairman Y C Deveshwar said the company might opt for the bourses at some point of time.

ITC Infotech is structured as a separate company, not as a division. That is the only business that we structured as a separate company. That indicates that we could take ITC Infotech public, Deveshwar said on the sidelines of an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The reason for structuring ITC Infotech was that over a period of time, the company would like to have the option of remunerating its people. But we dont know whether that (making ITC Infotech public) is the right route. But if we did want to, we could, he added.

ITC Infotech is USD 64 million company with a headcount of over 4,200 employees. The tier-II firm competes with the likes of the global service providers such as HP, IBM and Accenture and also tier-I Indian players for enterprise system integration solutions, infrastructure and testing services projects.

Some of its clients include British American Tobacco, Abbey National Bank, Finnair, DHL, PTC and Unilever. Around 5% of the companys revenues come from ITC.

The company has a joint venture with Client Logic, which provides technical support and voice-BPO services to clients worldwide. ITC Infotech has offices across the US, UK, Europe and the Asia-Pacific, and delivery footprint across 42 countries.

In February, the company was ranked among the Top 10 Specialty Application Development Providers in the 2007 Global Services 100 listing.

The company has now featured in this annual listing of top 100 global service providers consecutively for three years.

Sanjiv Puri, managing director, ITC Infotech, had then said, The ranking is a demonstration of our proven expertise in developing and managing mission critical applications for leading global corporations.

The company offers application development and management services, ITC Infotech also offers enterprise services in the area of ERP, CRM, Infrastructure and IT Consulting.

Last May, the company ramped up its presence in the US by strengthening its sales and marketing efforts.

Having clocked USD 64 million in revenues last fiscal, the company is hoping to outpace the industry growth with a CAGR of 85%.

Besides Banking, Financial services and Insurance (BFSI), the company focuses on three other verticals its parent company ITCs own businesses-travel and hospitality, consumer packaged goods and retail, and manufacturing.

ITC Infotech also has an advanced technology division that works on incubating technologies and processes. It is now also focusing on RFID, reports Business Standard.

The Loot retail chain plans IPO in 2009

2007-03-29T08:51:00.000-09:00

Jay Retailing and Merchandising, promoters of The Loot chain of retail stores in the country, is planning to go public in 2009.

The company plans to run over 25 stores across India and garner a turnover of Rs 100 crore by that time, said Jay Gupta, managing director, after opening the maiden Loot store recently.

Gupta said the company had created a niche for itself by offering a minimum of 25% reduction in the maximum retail price of branded apparels and footwear. The company buys apparels or footwear in large quantities from brand owners and offers the goods to customers at discounted prices.

The company will compete with the discount sale offers by the brand owners themselves or with the owned outlets where the merchandise is offered at reduced prices, Gupta said, adding that The Loot will score over these options on the strength of its ability to offer a greater variety of products and more attractive prices.

We will stock the entire range of fresh merchandise, albeit after a time lag of three to six months, Gupta said.

He said the present pattern of introducing new designs every season had created a huge opportunity for the company as newer stocks can be picked up every three or four months.

There is a very small section of consumers who buys and wears designs only when it is in season; the rest will look for well-known brands with a lowered price tag, Gupta said.

On the companys expansion plans, Gupta said they would follow a strategy to ensure its presence in state capitals, places near airports and at places where the population is above six lakh.

These are the places where we have customers who understand our value proposition, he said.

Currently, the company, with 10 stores across the country, has its presence in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Nashik and Pune.

The company is yet to work out the size of funds it intends to raise through the issue, but will look at a valuation based on a sales turnover of Rs 100 crore at the end of 2008, he added, reports Business Standard.

SEBI makes IPO grading mandatory

2007-03-22T08:01:00.000-09:00

Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Thursday made it mandatory for companies planning initial public offers to get rated by agencies and tightened disclosures for real estate IPOs.

The two decisions could affect some high-profile IPOs being planned by big developers, bankers said.

"The grading of IPOs will come into effect immediately," SEBI Chairman M. Damodaran told reporters. "The fees to be paid for grading of IPO would be paid by companies," he said.

While Damodoran didn't detail the reasons for the decisions, market players said the performance of some newly listed shares that are trading below their offer price could have led to the move.

For instance, Parsvnath Developers Ltd. and Akruti Nirman Ltd. made a strong debut on the markets but are now available below their IPO prices.

The regulator also said real estate firms must provide ownership or purchase agreement details to justify their claims about land holdings. SEBI hoped this would prevent firms from exaggerating their real assets.

"No projection of the land value or project value must be given and any indication of the market value should only be at present value," Damodaran said.

Damodaran also said the board approved short-selling by institutions as indicated in the Union budget on Feb.28.

"The board has approved exactly on the line of the statement contained in the budget," he added.

ICRA IPO oversubscribed 6.3 times

2007-03-22T07:45:00.001-09:00

CRA, a leading provider of investment information and credit rating services in India, is open for subscription with a public issue of 2,581,100 equity shares of Rs 10 each, for cash, at a price to be decided through a 100% book building process

The issue has been oversubscribed 6.32 times, at 5 pm, as per NSE website. It received more than 1.63 bids, which includes 29.35 lakh bids at cut off price.

Foreign institutional investors are the major supporter to the issue. They put 25 lakh bids against reserved quota of 12.90 lakh shares, till 21 March.

The price band for the issue is between Rs 275 to Rs 330 per equity share. The issue size at the higher price band is at Rs 85.17 crore.

It is also an associate of Moody’s Investors Services. Moody has 29% stake in ICRA. Remaining stake is held by leading financial institutions and banks like SBI, LIC, IFCI etc.

The objects of the offer are to achieve the benefits of listing on the stock exchanges and provide liquidity to existing shareholders and employees.

The equity shares are proposed to be listed on the NSE and the BSE. Book running lead managers to the issue are SBI Capital Markets & Kotak Mahindra Capital and registrar is Intime Spectrum Registry.

Orbit Corporation

Orbit Corporation, a real estate construction and development company with a primary focus on redevelopment of existing properties, is also open for subscription with an initial public offering, IPO of 9,100,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash between a price band of Rs 108 and Rs 117 per equity share along with one detachable warrant per equity share.

The issue was just subscribed 0.21 times, with the help of non-institutional investors.

VASCO picks up stake in Fortis Healthcare for Rs 106.89mn

2007-03-22T07:43:00.000-09:00

Fortis Healthcare, FHL, one of the largest private healthcare companies in India, announced the signing of a definitive agreement (pre-IPO agreement) for allotment of 6.7 lakh equity shares to VASCO, an investment arm of McKinsey & Company, for an investment amount of Rs 106.89 million.

VASCO has been allotted the equity shares at a fixed price of Rs 159.50 per share. The equity shares issued pursuant to the pre-IPO agreement shall be subject to lock-in after the completion of the IPO, as per SEBI regulations.

FHL had recently signed a pre-IPO agreement with Trinity Capital for allotment of 6 million shares for Rs 870 million. The company had earlier signed two pre-IPO agreements in December 2006, and another in January 2007 for allotment of a total of 4 million shares for Rs 560 million. Subsequent to this and previous pre-IPO investments, the number of equity shares to be issued to the public in the IPO will be further reduced to the extent of the number of equity shares issued in the pre-IPO investments.

Shivinder Mohan Singh, managing director, Fortis Healthcare and Escorts Heart said, “We are happy to welcome VASCO as an investor in Fortis. Last year, McKinsey helped us create our vision, mission and growth strategy for the next 5 years and in the process, have gained an understanding of our organization and the opportunity in the healthcare sector. We hope to benefit from and build on this association.”

FHL currently has a network of 11 hospitals primarily in North India and 16 satellite and heart command centers (including one heart command center in Afghanistan). The hospitals include multi specialty hospitals, as well as super-specialty centers providing tertiary and quaternary healthcare to patients in areas such as cardiac care, orthopedics, neurosciences, oncology, renal care, gastroenterology and mother and child care. The hospitals that FHL manages include Fortis La Femme, a "boutique" style hospital that focuses on women's health and maternity care.

The book running lead managers to the issue are JM Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Global Markets India and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company.

Mundra port IPO papers put on hold

2007-03-22T07:41:00.002-09:00

The Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the stock market regulator, has put in abeyance for 90 days the draft prospectus of Mundra Port and SEZ, promoted by the Adani group, as the promoters face prosecution in a Mumbai court over allegations of share price rigging in the 2002 stock scam involving rogue trader Ketan Parekh.

In a reply to a query, the Sebi said: “The draft offer document of the company has been filed on March 6 and the period of 90 days expires on June 4 till which time the Sebi is obligated to keep in abeyance issuance of observations on the offer document.”

According to the disclosures made in the document, show-cause notices have been issued by the Sebi to the promoters. “Hence, in terms of the general order passed under Section 11A of the Sebi Act, 1992, an interim or final order on the SCNs issued has to be passed within 90 days from the date of the general order or filing of the draft offer document, whichever is later,” the Sebi said.

Sebi insiders say they are studying the legal implications of the IPO and are going through the disclosures made by the company. “They have filed the prospectus and we are looking at all the angles,” a Sebi official said. Mundra Port and SEZ’s executive-director Ameet Desai said the draft prospectus was filed in line with the Sebi’s December 2006 circular that said a company that had received Sebi’s show-cause notice could file the draft prospectus, reports Business Standard.

Sebi may discuss issues on real estate IPO

2007-03-22T07:41:00.001-09:00

The Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi) board meeting is expected to discuss issues related to IPOs of real estate firms. The new norms may make disclosure of land banks and valuation more comprehensive for realty firms.

The board may also take up imposition of a price ceiling for debutante shares.

Another issue that would come up is ways to tackle foreign institutional investors’ unhealthy practice of revising their bids for IPOs just before the closure of the offer.

Policy framework to set up self regulatory organisations (SROs) of stock market intermediaries, allow mutual funds to launch infrastructure funds and short selling of shares by institutional investors may also be discussed, sources said.

Proposals by several entities to set up stock exchange for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are also expected to be discussed, sources said.

On the issue of SROs, sources said, Sebi favours unified SROs for various segments of market intermediaries viz., mutual funds, stock brokers, merchant bankers and for registrar & transfer agents (RTAs).

Similarly, the board, which is meeting for the first time after the Union Budget, is also expected to discuss the budget proposal to allow mutual funds to invest in infrastructure projects through dedicated infrastructure funds.

Allowing short selling for institutional investors, which was another policy direction outlined in the budget, is also expected to come up before the regulator.

The eligibility criteria for the stocks that qualify for short selling and the guidelines for stock lending and borrowing programme, which would be introduced along with short selling, would also be discussed at the board meeting.

Sources said the Sebi top executives, who recently met the investment bankers, are also concerned with the high price band set by the real estate IPOs. Several such IPOs, which happened when the stock market was at the peak, are now trading more than 50% below their recent highs, it was pointed out.

Investment banking sources said Sebi wanted the real estate IPOs to disclose their land banks and their valuations at current prices in the draft prospectus filed with the regulator.

“There will be changes in the DIP (disclosure and investor protection) guidelines where realty companies would be asked to come out with a more comprehensive and transparent disclosure of their land banks in the red-herring prospectus,” an official said. “Sebi wants the disclosures to be more investors friendly.”

Another issue that concerns the regulator relates to the huge withdrawal of applications by QIBs before the close of an IPO. It was observed that during the IPO of Cairn, QIBs bid in large quantity before they revised their bid numbers downwards during the last day of closure.

Retail investors usually look at QIB subscription to get a clue on whether to apply for an IPO or not.

Sebi now wants to plug this loophole by bringing in required changes in the QIB application norms, sources said, reports Business Standard.

Jyothy Labs plans IPO of Rs 300cr

2007-03-22T07:39:00.000-09:00

Mumbai-based fast moving consumer goods company Jyothy Laboratories plans to tap the capital markets later this year. This will be the first FMCG IPO after a gap of two years. The last FMCG company to go public was the Kolkata-based Emami.

Jyothy Labs, best known for its Ujala brand of liquid fabric whiteners, is said to be planning Rs 300 crore initial public offering, which is expected by the end of 2007. Investment banking sources said that the company had appointed Kotak and Enam as advisors to the issue.

Jyothy Labs is a closely held company with about 70% stake being held by founder chairman and managing director M P Ramachandran and his family. The balance 30% lies with private equity firms CLSA and Actis along with a foreign subsidiary of ICICI Bank. The foreign investors are likely to exit the company at the time of the IPO. Ramachandran was unavailable for comments.

Jyothy Labs sales are pegged at between Rs 400 crore and Rs 500 crore. The company is said to have been valued at around Rs 1,000 crore.

Over the last few years, there have been unconfirmed reports that other FMCG companies like Godrej Consumer and Reckitt Benckiser were keen on either buying out or acquiring a stake in Jyothy Labs. However, the promoters are said to have been unwilling to give up control, preferring to opt for private placement first and now a public offering.

After launching Ujala nationally in 1997, the brand has gone on to become the market leader in the fabric whitener category, snatching share from Reckitt’s Robin Blue. It has over the years entered other product categories like mosquito repellents (Maxo), personal care products (Jeeva), detergents (Speed), cleaners (Exo) and air freshners (Maya). The company also has a significant volume of exports to 14 countries including Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

CCL Products India, an Andhra Pradesh-based coffee company has set up a joint venture company with Jyothy Labs to launch instant coffee under the ‘Continental Speciale’ brand name.

Locally, the company has a well established distribution network of close to 4,000 distributors across the country. As a result, other FMCG firms have entered into strategic agreements with the company to piggy back on its network. Godrej Beverages and Foods sells its tea brand Godrej Tea through Jyothy’s network, reports Business Standard.

Writer Corp plans capital market foray within 5 yrs

2007-03-21T07:42:00.000-09:00

Writer Corporation is very visible around the city of Mumbai - most people have seen their ochre and light brown vans whizzing around the city. This relocation firm is now being run by a third generation member of the family. Garfield D'Souza is the 31 year old scion who is taking the company forward. This BCom graduate from St. Andrews college has hopes of taking the company into the Middle East and actually becoming a market leader there in the relocations business.

Writer Corporation started 53 years ago with a handful of workers, one truck and ambition to succeed. Today, this company is a market leader in the relocation business and Garfield is at the helm of the firm. He started as a trainee in the company as his father made it clear that the company would not be inherited, it had to be learnt. He gives his father credit for shaping his persona.

Managing Director, Writer Corporation, Garfield D'Souza told CNBC-TV18, "Right from the beginning my father involved me in some way in the business. He would take me to play on the computer or file papers. Then after I graduated, there was no hesitation in diving in and wanting to excel. Right from the start, I was out with the packers - eating with them, packing things with them - and along the way, it built up a real sense of trust and camaraderie with the people as they form the nucleus of the business."

Writer started out by shipping for the army and they used gunny bags and straw to do their packing. But now they provide packing and moving services of the highest standard with a damage ratio that is next to neglible. He says, "As a result of the outsourcing wave that hit India, Writer also got swept by the wave. So, setting out of India with a good deal of knowledge and technology, our people could manage relocations of large multinationals - from Paris to New York - and we would leverage off partnerships we had in those particular regions to manage the projects - so to speak."

Garfield realises that he will have to up the ante and expand beyond Indian shores. And to do that, Writer has created a hub in Dubai because "the traffic between India and the Middle East (primarily Dubai and Bahrain) is extensive. He adds, "I think there is a need for us to spread our wings and focus on the international growth strategy and to de-risk the India model, if for any reason we got hit, it's the international presence that could solidfy the corporation."

He says, "We are going to close FY07 between Rs 200-220 crore of topline revenues and our projections for next year are between Rs 320-340 crore revenues as a combined entity."

"Right now we are putting together building blocks, which means we are putting together strong corporate governance plan. I am sure in the next five years, we will tap the market for debt and some form or the other. But there is definitely a plan to take Writer to the capital market", he adds.

The money raised from capital market by listing the company will be used in expansion. D'Souza further says, "There are several areas; more expansion definitely. Writer has always wanted to grow its businesses but at a certain level make sure that the core of the business is very strong. But yes ofcourse, international business is a great area for us to explore."

So, just what kind of relocation services does Writer provide. Garfield explains, "Let's take the Microsoft account. They have plans for India and therefore it necessates the movement of some high level executives. All of these people come in with some sort of premonitions about India and it's important to se their mind at ease. So, therefore when they arrive,we acclimatise them with the particular city they are going to be based out of, we hand-hold them through the schooling process. We make sure to find them a driver and a maid, get their residential permits done and set up their home for them."

So, basically Writer Corporation lets expats and foreign workers come to India and makes the transition a hassle-free experience for them, so that they can hit the ground running. By also making the process of moving to India so painless for such clients, Writer is building up quite a reputation for itself with the overseas crowd. And such goodwill is what will keep their cash registers flowing.

SET plans to hit capital market by end of 2007

2007-03-21T07:41:00.000-09:00

Nimbus has called a board meeting on March 23 to consider a proposal from Sony Entertainment Television for buying a 26% stake in the cricket channel Neo Sports. SET has been in talks with Nimbus for close to a month now, and the Sony board has approved the deal, using the funds set aside for the abortive bid for Ten Sports.

Meanwhile, Sony Entertainment Television’s (SET) ambitious public listing, is on track, with the mandated investment banks valuing the company at USD 1.7 billion. The firm is planning to hit the capital by the end of 2007 and sell about 10% of its equity.

JM Morgan Stanley, Kotak and UBS, who are the appointed lead managers of the issue, according to sources have been in active discussion with the Sony top management to chart the road map for the timing and value of the issue.

Investment banking sources pointed out that while multinationals do not like to list in India, the listing may be done to ensure the Indian promoter’s and US based private equity fund Capital’s exit.

Capital and the Indian promoters hold close to 32% have been looking at exiting the company for a while now. The IPO will be a mix of fresh issue and offer for sale, Indian promoters will sell stake and Sony will raise money.

SET is now considering launching an Indian music channel for global distribution, prior to the IPO. The company last year had gone through its restructuring process, and had acquired SET Singapore. SET Singapore, is the Singapore based broadcaster, which broadcasts and unlinks the Sony channels.

SET India, on the other hand, is the advertising and sales agent of the Singapore broadcaster. The shareholding pattern of SET India and SET Singapore are identical. While, Sony Pictures International holds 61% in both the above-mentioned companies, the balance is held by local investors and foreign institutions.

The Indian promoters of SET, have been looking at an exit option for a while now. The combined shareholding of the promoters is 32% and Indian promoters include the Singapore-based banker Rakesh Agarwal, Shemaroo Films managing director Raman Maroo, World Media Group Director Sudesh Iyer, MobiApps Holding’s Jayesh Parekh and actor Jackie Shroff, reports The Economic Times.

Astral Poly Technik ends with 8% discount

2007-03-20T08:03:00.001-09:00

Again one more listing got a bad hit on the first day itself. Astral Poly Technik, a manufacturer and provider of CPVC piping and plumbing systems, has started the day with 10% discount to its issue price. It touched a high of Rs 113.65 and low of Rs 100 in the opening trade but could not even cross its issue price during the day as markets were highly volatile. It remained in the range of Rs 100-109 through the day. The stock ended at Rs 105.75, down 8.04%, with volumes of 48,13,836 shares on the NSE.

On the BSE, the share closed at Rs 104.55, with volumes of 54,18,222 shares. It has touched a high of Rs 115 and low of Rs 100.20.

Managing Director of Astral Poly Technik, Sandeep Engineer told CNBC-TV18 that he sees FY07 sales at Rs 92 crore and profit at Rs 7.5 crore. Engineer anticipates FY08 revenue growth at 50-60%. He informs that they hold a market share of 70% in the CPVC segment.

The company had entered capital market with a public issue of 29,71,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each at a price of Rs 115 per equity share aggregating Rs 3416.65 lakh.

Astral Poly Technik has its production facilities at Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh to manufacture plumbing systems from ½" to 8" diameter. Its products include CPVC pipes and fittings for hot and cold water plumbing systems, CPVC industrial piping system for transportation of hazardous and highly corrosive chemicals, lead free PVC systems for cold water application. Innovative product designs and improvements, new technologies, and a fully integrated manufacturing system are all a part of ASTRAL's ongoing commitment to quality, satisfaction and service.

Advanta sets IPO price band at Rs 600-650; opens on Mar 26

2007-03-20T07:58:00.000-09:00

Advanta India, an international agronomic seed company with principal operations in India, Australia, Thailand and Argentina, and a subsidiary of United Phosphorus, is entering the Indian capital market with an initial public offering of 33,80,000 equity shares of Rs 10 for cash at a premium to be decided through the 100% book-building process.

The price band has been fixed between Rs 600 and Rs 650 per equity share. The subscription to the issue opens on March 26, 2007, and closes on March 30, 2007. The issue will constitute 20.08% of the post-issue paid-up capital of the company. The shares will be listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange.

In terms of Rule 19(2)(b) of the Securities Contract Regulation Rules, 1957, this being an issue for less than 25% of the post-issue capital of the company, the issue is being made through the 100% book building process wherein at least 60% of the issue must be allotted on a proportionate basis to qualified institutional buyers (QIBs). Further, 5% of the QIB portion must be available for allocation to mutual funds only and the remaining QIB Portion must be available for allocation to the QIB bidders including mutual funds, subject to valid bids being received at or above the issue price.

Further, up to 10% of the issue must be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to non-institutional bidders and up to 30% of the issue must be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to retail individual bidders, subject to valid bids being received at or above the issue price. The company has allotted 1,677,000 equity shares to a group of investors at a price of Rs 625 per equity share under the pre-issue placement pursuant to a resolution of the board of directors dated February 23, 2007.

Headquartered in Bangalore, Advanta India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of United Phosphorus, one of the leading generic agrochemical companies in the world with operations in the United States, Australia, China , Latin America and Europe. The company has been reorganised into its current form following the acquisition by UPL of the businesses previously held by Advanta Netherlands Holdings B.V. and the amalgamation of Uniphos Seeds and Bio-Genetics Pvt. Ltd. The company, including its operating subsidiaries, is engaged in the research, production and sales of a range of hybrid seeds for cereals and oilseed crops; and is a global leader in technical plant breeding and in the application of biotechnology to develop new hybrids and varieties of field crops and broad acre vegetable seed products.

The group, with a dedicated research & development team of 128 employees worldwide, owns 39 registered trademarks (as of December 31, 2006) in various countries. Its R&D efforts are in superior breeding programmes and bioscience techniques that drive the development of a portfolio of elite, proprietary and differentiated germplasm. The group has a proprietary germplasm base that is fully integrated with its bioscience capabilities. It has developed a diverse portfolio of seed products including sunflower, corn, hybrid rice, canola, hybrid mustard, pearl millet and sorghum amongst others.

For the year ended March 31, 2006, the company posted unconsolidated income of Rs 435.44 million and profit after tax of Rs 44.52 million. During the seven month period ended October 31, 2006, the company posted unconsolidated income of Rs 598.79 million and profit after tax of Rs 282.38 million. The results for the seven month period ended October 31, 2006, include the business of USBPL, which was amalgamated with the company with effect from April 1, 2006.

The book running lead managers to the issue are Yes Bank, UBS Securities India and SSKI Corporate Finance.

Astral Poly Technik debuts with 10.4% discount

2007-03-20T07:57:00.000-09:00

Astral Poly Technik, a manufacturer and provider of CPVC piping and plumbing systems, has listed with 10.43% discount to its offer price of Rs 115 per share despite positive momentum in markets; touched an intraday high of Rs 113.65 and low of Rs 100. At 10:05 am, the share was trading at Rs 103.55, down 10%, with volumes of 8,24,186 shares.

It opened at issue price of Rs 115 on the BSE and touched a low of Rs 100.20. It was quoting at Rs 104.20, with volumes of 8,96,574 shares.

The company had entered capital market with a public issue of 29,71,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each at a price of Rs 115 per equity share aggregating Rs 3416.65 lakh.

Astral Poly Technik would utilize the net proceeds of the issue to part finance the expansion project of its existing line of business i.e. CPVC pipes and fittings; Astral flow guard and Astral Corzan and PVC pipes and fittings (Aquarius) and also to finance manufacturing facilities of its upcoming products such as Astral underground systems, Astral Blazemaster fire sprinkler system and Astral SWR (Phase II). The proposed expansion programme is aimed at increasing two kinds of capacity of the existing product line and new product lines such as piping or extrusion capacity and fitting or moulding capacity.

Astral Poly Technik has its production facilities at Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh to manufacture plumbing systems from ½" to 8" diameter. Its products include CPVC pipes and fittings for hot and cold water plumbing systems, CPVC industrial piping system for transportation of hazardous and highly corrosive chemicals, lead free PVC systems for cold water application. Innovative product designs and improvements, new technologies, and a fully integrated manufacturing system are all a part of ASTRAL's ongoing commitment to quality, satisfaction and service.

Deccan Infrastructure plans to raise Rs 2000cr via IPO

2007-03-20T07:56:00.000-09:00

Deccan Infrastructure & Land Holdings (DILH), a subsidiary of Andhra Pradesh Housing Board (APHB), is planning to raise up to Rs 2,000 crore through an IPO, subject to regulatory clearances.

“We are looking to divest 15-20% equity in the company some time in June or July if everything works out well,” S N Mohanty, chairman and housing commissioner, Andhra Pradesh Housing Board, said.

The Government of Andhra Pradesh holds 49% equity and the APHB 51% in DILH which is into the development of integrated townships and urban infrastructure either on its own or through JVs with other public bodies and private-sector companies. The draft red herring prospectus is being whetted by the auditors PriceWaterhouse Cooper and managers to the issue and merchant bankers JM Morgn Stanley, DSP Merrill Lynch and SBI Capital Markets.

Based on the track record of its parent and armed with a land bank of about 8,000 acres that is conservatively valued at over Rs 12,000 crore, Mohanty is expecting the valuation for the premium issue would be quite aggressive.

While property consultants Trammell Crow Meghraj and Cushman Wakefield are carrying out a valuation exercise on the land bank, the APHB’s balance sheet itself should provide the Deccan Infrastructure IPO a premium pricing, says Mohanty.

Over the past three years, the APHB has been instrumental in the construction of 50,000 dwelling units across the state, including houses in the government’s initiative for lower income group, Rajiv Gruha Kalpa Scheme.

The APHB is now taking up a massive exercise to create additional housing for the middle-income groups in the state at rates 25% lower than the market, reports DNA Money.

Orbit Corporation IPO bids start today

2007-03-20T07:55:00.001-09:00

Orbit Corporation, an ISO 9001:2000 certified real estate construction and development company with a primary focus on redevelopment of existing properties, is open for subscription with an initial public offering, IPO of 9,100,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash between a price band of Rs 108 and Rs 117 per equity share along with one detachable warrant per equity share.

The issue closes for subscription on March 23, 2007. The shares of the company are proposed to be listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange.

The issue of equity shares will constitute 25.09% of the fully diluted post-issue equity share capital of the company prior to the exercise of detachable warrants. The issue will constitute 40.11% of the equity share capital of the company after the exercise of detachable warrants, assuming full exercise of the detachable warrants.

They also come out with detachable warrants, wherein the shareholder having the option to convert it into a share 18 months after allotment but before the 30th month at a price calculated as follows: If the share price goes below the issue price, shareholders can convert their warrants at a 30% discount to the prevailing market price. But, if the market price is at or above the issue price, they can encash it at a 10% discount to the market price.

The holding of the promoters Ravi Aggarwal and Pujit Aggarwal, along with their group company will fall to 59.2% post-issue from 79% now (Out of 100%, company has done private placement of 21% and currently holds 79% pre issue). The promoter stake will get diluted further to 47.3% on conversion of the warrants.

The issue is being made through the 100% book building process wherein at least 50% of the issue shall be allocated on a proportionate basis to qualified institutional buyers; out of which 5% of the QIB portion shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to mutual funds only; and the remainder of the QIB portion shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to all QIBs, including mutual funds, subject to valid bids being received at or above issue price. Further, upto 15% of the issue shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to non-institutional bidders and up to 35% of the issue shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to retail individual bidders, subject to valid bids being received at or above the issue price.

The company posted a total income (consolidated) of Rs 172.91 million and a net profit after tax of Rs 59.54 million for the year ended March 31, 2006. For the nine months ended December 31, 2006, it posted a total income (consolidated) of Rs 543 million and a net profit of Rs 128.26 million.

The book running lead manager to the issue is Edelweiss Capital and Intime Spectrum is the registrar.

ICRA IPO opens for subscription

2007-03-20T07:54:00.001-09:00

ICRA, a leading provider of investment information and credit rating services in India, is open for subscription with a public issue of 2,581,100 equity shares of Rs 10 each, for cash, at a price to be decided through a 100% book building process through an offer for sale by IFCI (18.6 lakh shares), administrator of the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (7 lakh shares) and State Bank of India (20,500 shares).

The price band for the issue has been fixed between Rs 275 to Rs 330 per equity share. The issue closes for subscription on March 23, 2007. The issue size at the higher price band is at Rs 85.17 crore.

It is also an associate of Moody’s Investors Services. Moody has 29% stake in ICRA. Remaining stake is held by leading financial institutions and banks like SBI, LIC, IFCI etc.

The offer is being made through the 100% book building process wherein up to 50% of the offer shall be allotted on a proportionate basis to qualified institutional buyers (QIBs). Further, 5% of the QIB portion shall be available for allocation to mutual funds only and the remaining QIB portion shall be available for allocation to the QIB bidders including mutual funds, subject to valid bids being received at or above the offer price.

Further, at least 15% of the offer shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to non-institutional bidders and at least 35% of the offer shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to retail individual bidders, subject to valid bids being received at or above the offer price. The offer shall constitute 25.81% of the fully diluted post-offer capital of the company.

The objects of the offer are to achieve the benefits of listing on the stock exchanges and provide liquidity to existing shareholders and employees.

The equity shares are proposed to be listed on the NSE and the BSE. Book running lead managers to the issue are SBI Capital Markets & Kotak Mahindra Capital and registrar is Intime Spectrum Registry.

Established in 1991, the company is one of the four credit rating agencies in India with a wide range of products and services. It is recognised amongst investors, issuers and intermediaries. It is engaged in the business of providing rating and grading services and research based information services and outsourcing services. Further, the company has a close association with the Moody’s group.

The company has three wholly owned subsidiaries, namely, ICRA Management Consultancy Services, ICRA Techno Analytics and ICRA online. IMaCS provides management consulting services to clients based in India and abroad. ICTEAS is engaged in the business of providing business solutions and computer aided engineering services. ICRA Online provides mutual fund based information services and outsourcing services. ICRA Online, to complement its information services business, also provides technology solutions targeted at distributors of third party financial products, insurance brokers and stock broking houses.

Orbit Corporation Ltd. Issue Open on 20th March

2007-03-20T07:38:00.000-09:00

Issue Open 20/03/2007
Issue Close 23/03/2007
Issue Size 91,00,000 Equity Shares
Issue Type Book Building
Face Value Rs.10/-
Price Range Rs. 108/- to Rs. 117/-
Tick Size Re 1/-
Market Lot 50
Minimum Order Qty 50

Listing Stock Exchange Mumbai, NSE
Registrar To The Issue Intime Spectrum Registry Ltd.
Book Running Lead Managers Edelweiss Capital Ltd.

Registered Office Address 1st Floor, The View, 165- Dr. Annie Besant Road,
Phone 91- 22- 30446900 Fax 91- 22- 24911028
Email ipo@orbitcorp.com
Website Orbit Corporation Ltd.

Analysis

Company background

* The company was incorporated on March 7, 2000 as “Orbit Cybertech Limited” to carry on real estate construction and development with primary focus on redevelopment of existing properties. The company has changed its name to “Orbit Corporation Limited”(OCL) on April 10, 2006.
* Currently, there are sixteen projects with the company (including subsidiary) out of which five projects are under sale process and eleven projects are at preliminary stages.
* The subsidiaries of OCL are Orbit Constructions & Realtors Private Limited (“OCRPL), Orbit Buildcon & Realty Private Limited (“OBRPL”), Orbit Housing Private Limited (“OHPL”).
* The company received the ISO 9001:2000 certification for Quality Management System from KPMG.
* Every allotte of equity shares under the issue shall receive a convertible Warrant in the ratio of one convertible Warrant per equity share of a face value of Rs 10/- each during the Warrant exercise Period.
* Post issue promoter’s shareholding prior to exercise of warrants will reduce from 80.63% to 60.40% and post exercise of warrants to 48.29%.

Objective

* To finance acquisition cost of new projects.
* To finance project development cost of the existing projects.
* To invest in wholly owned subsidiaries.
* To meet issue expenses.

Strength

* Mumbai is one of the most lucrative markets in India; the property market in Mumbai and south central Mumbai has shown a growth of 20% on an average in the last 2 years and expected to continue with the same growth.
* Better profitability margins due to operations under Development Control Regulation (DCR) scheme and good scope for redevelopment projects in the island city of Mumbai offers good prospects for OCL.
* There exists a vast opportunity for redevelopment of properties in the Island City of Mumbai which has over 19,500 buildings which have been declared as ceased.
* The company provides warranty programs for buyers during the defect liability period.

Weakness

* CARE has assigned a ‘CARE IPO Grade 1’ to the proposed initial public offer of Orbit Corporation (OCL). CARE IPO Grade 1 indicates ‘poor fundamentals’. CARE assigns IPO grades on a scale of Grade 5 to Grade 1, with Grade 5 indicating strong fundamentals and Grade 1 indicating poor fundamentals.
* OCL has limited project experience, less visibility of brand at state as well as at national level, long gestation period of projects.
* The company is focusing on redevelopment projects in the Island City of Mumbai. Concentration risk and presence of competitors would reduce the number of target properties available for redevelopment.

Valuation

* The net profit of the company increased at CAGR of 120% over the period of last three years. The net profit for the nine months ended December 2006 is Rs 12.826 cr. The company was in loses to the tone of Rs 5.4 lakh & Rs 6.3lakh for the year FY 2002 & FY 2003 respectively.
* The profit margin was 34.43% for FY 2006 and 23.62% for nine months ended December 2006.
* The RONW has decreased from 45.82% in FY 2004 to 5.58% in FY 2006 due to increase in equity share capital and reserve & surplus. The RONW for the nine-month ended December 2006 was 7.86%.
* EPS of the company was Rs 2.75 on March 31, 2006 and on December 31, 2006 was Rs 4.72. Annualized EPS, based on annualized net profit, on March 31, 2007 is Rs 6.29.
* Post issue annualized PE is 17.16 at the lower end of the price and 18.59 at the upper end of the price.
* Book value per share of the company on March 31, 2006 was Rs 49.33 and on December 31, 2006 was Rs 60.

Comparison with peers (March 31, 2006)

Astral Poly Technik to list on March 20

2007-03-19T09:00:00.002-09:00

Astral Poly Technik, a manufacturer and provider of CPVC piping and plumbing systems in India since 1999, will list on the bourses with 1,12,38,056 shares on March 20, 2007.

The offer price was at Rs 115 per share. Its BSE ID is 532830 and NSE ID ASTRAL.

The company had entered capital market with a public issue of 29,71,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each at a price of Rs 115 per equity share aggregating Rs 3416.65 lakh.

Karvy Investor Services was the lead manager to the issue and Bigshare Services was the registrar to the issue.

Astral Poly Technik proposed to utilize the net proceeds of the issue to part finance the expansion project of its existing line of business i.e. CPVC pipes and fittings; Astral flow guard and Astral Corzan and PVC pipes and fittings (Aquarius) and also to finance manufacturing facilities of its upcoming products such as Astral underground systems, Astral Blazemaster fire sprinkler system and Astral SWR (Phase II). The proposed expansion programme is aimed at increasing two kinds of capacity of the existing product line and new product lines such as piping or extrusion capacity and fitting or moulding capacity.

Astral Poly Technik has its production facilities at Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh to manufacture plumbing systems from " to 8" diameter. Its products include CPVC pipes and fittings for hot and cold water plumbing systems, CPVC industrial piping system for transportation of hazardous and highly corrosive chemicals, lead free PVC systems for cold water application. Innovative product designs and improvements, new technologies, and a fully integrated manufacturing system are all a part of ASTRAL's ongoing commitment to quality, satisfaction and service.

Gremach Infra IPO subscribed 1.13 times

2007-03-19T09:00:00.001-09:00

Revision in the price band (From Rs 75-90 to Rs 72-86) has helped little bit to Gremach Infrastructure Equipments and Projects, provider of construction and earthmoving machineries. The issue has managed to subscribe fully with the help of non-institutional investors. It has received 92.33 lakh bids as against total issue size of 81.94 lakh shares, which includes 11.07 lakh bids at cut off price.

Gremach public issue was subscribed 1.13 times, till 5 pm, as per NSE website.

The company had entered capital market with a public issue of Rs 59 crore through 100% book building process.

The public issue up to 50% of the net issue size shall be allocated to qualified institutional buyers. Another 15% of the issue would be available on proportion basis to non institutional bidders and at least 35% of the issue shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to retail individual bidders subject to valid bids being received at or above the issue price.

R R Financial Consultants is the lead manager, Chartered Capital & Investment is the co lead manager and Intime Spectrum Registry is the registrar for the issue.

Fortis Health signs Rs 870mn pre-IPO agreement with Trinity

2007-03-19T08:58:00.000-09:00

Fortis Healthcare, FHL, one of the largest private healthcare companies in India, announced the signing of a definitive agreement for investment in the equity shares of FHL.

The pre-IPO agreement is for allotment of 6 million shares to Trinity Capital (Eight) for a total amount of Rs 870 million. The equity shares issued pursuant to the pre-IPO agreement shall be subject to lock-in after the completion of the IPO, as per SEBI regulations.

Trinity was created in 2006 for the purpose of investing in real estate and real estate related entities across India. On admission to the London Stock Exchange in April 2006, Trinity raised 250 million of equity by way of an offer to institutional investors.

FHL had earlier signed two pre-IPO agreements in December 2006 and another in January 2007 for allotment of a total of 4 million shares for Rs 560 million.

Subsequent to this and previous pre-IPO investments, the number of equity shares to be issued to the public in the IPO will be further reduced to the extent of the number of equity shares issued in the pre-IPO investments.

Commenting on the development, Shivinder Mohan Singh, Managing Director, Fortis Healthcare and Escorts Heart said, "We are happy that an existing shareholder like Trinity which had bought 2 million shares in January this year, has increased its shareholding in the company by another 6 million shares."

FHL currently has a network of 11 hospitals primarily in North India and 16 satellite and heart command centers (including one heart command center in Afghanistan). The hospitals include multi specialty hospitals, as well as super-specialty centers providing tertiary and quaternary healthcare to patients in areas such as cardiac care, orthopedics, neurosciences, oncology, renal care, gastroenterology and mother and child care. The hospitals that FHL manages include Fortis La Femme, a "boutique" style hospital that focuses on women's health and maternity care.

The book running lead managers to the issue are JM Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Global Markets India and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, as per press release.

AMD Metplast ends with 4.4% premium

2007-03-19T08:56:00.000-09:00

AMD Metplast, a manufacturer of crown caps, plastic closures and PET performs, has started with 13.2% discount to its issue price of Rs 75 per share; touched an intraday low of Rs 64.65 and high of Rs 82.55. But it did not slip below its low (which touched in opening trade) rather it recovered & started trading above issue price on the back of buying interest. It ended the day at Rs 78.30, up 4.4%, with volumes of 1,64,09,794 shares on the BSE.

On the NSE, it closed at Rs 78.20, up 4.27%, with volumes of 1,58,67,026 shares; touched an intraday high of Rs 82.65 and low of Rs 70.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Ashok Gupta, Managing Director, AMD Metplast comments that they are likely to grow at 30-40%. Gupta believes that Coke is likely to continue to provide 80% of revenues.

AMD Metplast is also seeing scope due to beer entering the PET segment. Their raw materials are from RIL and hence, they state that they have no concerns on this front, said Gupta.

The company had come out with a public issue of 1.02 crore equity shares of Rs 10 each through a 100% book building process.The issue subscribed 5.32 times.

Abhishek Mills slips 8.5% on listing day

2007-03-19T08:55:00.001-09:00

A textile and infrastructure company, Abhishek Mills, AML, has opened with 14.85% discount to its issue price of Rs 100 per share and touched a low of Rs 78.15 due to high profit booking at opening price. It crossed its issue price during the day and touched a high of Rs 100.65 but overall remained weak through the day despite positive momentum in the market. Abhishek Mills finished at Rs 91.50, down 8.5%, with volumes of 65,59,511 shares on the NSE.

On the BSE, it closed at Rs 91.15, with volumes of 93,64,253 shares; hit a high of Rs 10.45 and low of Rs 79.40.

The company had come out with a public issue of 41,00,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each. The public issue subscribed 1.26 times.

Lawreshwar Polymers sheds 12.5%

2007-03-19T08:54:00.001-09:00

Lawreshwar Polymers, manufacturer of the Lehar brand of footwear, has begun the day at Rs 15.90 as against itsi issue price of Rs 16 per share; touched a low of Rs 13.55. It crossed its issue price during the day and touched a high of Rs 17.75 during the day. But it could not able to sustain above issue price through the day. Finally it ended at Rs 14, down 12.5% to its issue price, with volumes of 1,02,36,661 shares.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Shree Hari Lath, CFO at Lawreshwar Polymers, sees FY08 sales at Rs 28-30 crore, with a profit of Rs 1.75-2 crore.

The company had entered capital market with an initial public offer, IPO of 87,12,500 equity shares of Rs 10 each for cash at a premium of Rs 6.

Lehar footwear, which is mainly sold in northern region, would use the funds to open five showrooms in different parts of the country and to build a new corporate office in Jaipur.

Jagjanani Textiles closes with discount of 7.4%

2007-03-19T08:53:00.001-09:00

It was bad day for new listings like Jagjanani Textiles, JTL, which opened with 10.4% discount to its issue price of Rs 25; touched an intraday low of Rs 20.20 and high of Rs 24.90. It could not able to crossed its issue price despite positive mood in the markets. Finally, it ended at Rs 23.15, down 7.4%, with volumes of 1,44,75,399 shares on the BSE.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, S G Vyas, Managing Director, Jagjanani Textiles says that their FY08 turnover is seen at Rs 50-60 cr and the FY08 EPS is seen at Rs 7.

They are adding 12,000 spindles in the yarn business and 48 air jet looms for weaving are also being added.

Jagjanani Textiles' margins are at 28-30% for FY08 at gross levels, says Vyas.

The company had entered capital market with a public issue of 81,00,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each at a price of Rs 25 per equity share aggregating Rs 20.25 crore.

JTL is an existing profit making company promoted by Shri Gopal Vyas and Shri Shiv Kumar Singhal. It is engaged in the manufacture of cotton and blended yarn in counts Ne 3 to Ne 16 with installed capacity of 3600 MTA at RIICO Industrial Area at Bagru near Jaipur. Its products are sold in the domestic market and exported to Bahrain, Dubai, Egypt, Hongkong and Pakistan.

Allied Digital to launch IPO this month

2007-03-19T08:52:00.001-09:00

Allied Digital, an IT infrastructure and technical support service outsourcing company plans to come with an initial public offering (IPO) by mid-March 2007. The company plans to raise about Rs 100 crore through this IPO. It is also looking for acquisitions and is already in talks with three-four companies.

The funds raised will be used for strategic acquisitions, expanding the existing infrastructure, setting up of new offices and set up a network operating centre (NOC) and a security operating centre (SOC).

It also intends to leverage its technical expertise into offering technical business processes (T-BPO).

The company plans to operate the NOC and SOC services from its global service delivery centre (GSDC) spread over 40,000 sqft in Malad, Mumbai.

Nitin Shah, Chairman Allied Digital said: We are in talks with 3-4 companies and the due diligence process has already begun with two companies. These companies are in the applications development space. The company has earmarked about USD 8 million for overall acquisitions.

Geographical expansion is also on cards. At present, the company has presence in 72 locations but plans to increase the number to 100 in the near future and will be opening offices in New York, London and Bangkok.

With almost 90% of their revenues coming from the Indian market the company believes that they have a potential market in the small and medium enterprise (SME) segment in the US.

We had done an internal survey and found that managed security services market is quite mature in the US and the SMEs in particular are looking for such services, said Shah, reports Business Standard.

IISL eyes IPO business for growth

2007-03-19T08:50:00.000-09:00

Investor Services of India (ISIL), which has been acting as registrar and transfer agent (RTA) for bond/ debt issues in the last 15 years or so, is now eyeing business of handling initial public offerings (IPOs), where lack of enough number of RTAs is creating huge pressure on the system in completing the IPO-related works such as data entry, share allotments, refunds, equity servicing etc in a seamless manner.

ISIL, which is promoted by a clutch of institutions including IDBI, Life Insurance Corporation and Tata Sons, is building up expertise relating to book-building, besides upgrading its technology to handle IPOs, said Abraham Pallithazha, its managing director and CEO.

Karvy Computershare is by far the biggest player in the industry while others such as Datamatix, MCS, Intime Specturm, Big Share and Sharepro also are active as registrar and transfer agents of public issues. A sudden rise in IPOs especially when most issues come around the same time, create pressure in the system as was witnessed during some of the big issues in recent times.

Bond issues are difficult to handle compared to IPOs. Over 19 lakh investors participated in IDBIs deep discount bonds issued during 1992 and 1996. Similarly, we are servicing 30 lakh investors of IDBIs Omni bonds issue, he said, adding that the change in focus to IPOs was due to the non-issuance of bonds/ debt from IDBI, which converted itself from a development financial institution (DFI) to a full-fledged bank, was not in a position to tap the bond market following lose of status as a DFI.

IDBI holds 25% stake in ISIL and it is the single-biggest stakeholder in the company. This meant a regular stream of business from the parent.

R Kannan, deputy general manager of IISL said the company recently made a first step in the public issue market by getting the mandate as RTA for the Ushar Agros IPO. But, it was a fixed price issue, he explained, adding that the company has roped in a senior executive from a competing firm to help it in building the expertise in book-building issues.

We are now looking for mandates from book-building issues. But, we are not looking at big issues. We want to be slow and steady, said Pallithazha, reports Business Standard.

AMD Metplast debuts with 13.2% discount

2007-03-19T08:48:00.000-09:00

AMD Metplast, a manufacturer of crown caps, plastic closures and PET performs, has listed with 13.2% discount on the BSE against its offer price of Rs 75 per share; touched an intraday high of Rs 82.55 and low of Rs 64.65.

It recovered losses and trading in the green though it opened in the red. It was quoting at Rs 79.20, with volumes of 32,96,477 shares on the BSE at 10:12 am.

It opened at Rs 73. On the NSE, at 10:12 am, the share was trading at Rs 79.60, up 6.13%, with volumes of 3158337 shares. It has hit a high of Rs 82.65 and low of Rs 70.

The company had come out with a public issue of 1.02 crore equity shares of Rs 10 each through a 100% book building process.The issue subscribed 5.32 times.

The proceeds from the issue would meet capital expenditure of Rs 22.58 crore for setting up a new PET preforms line at its existing plant in Neemrana, Rajasthan to double capacity from 4,620 tonnes per annum to 9,240 tonnes. The company currently has the capacity to manufacture 2661.12 million pieces per annum of crown caps and 288 million pieces per annum of plastic closures.

The funds would also go to part finance long-term capital needs of Rs 20 crore and repayment of a Rs 12-crore debt.