Banking On Demography

Lodha Developers is expected to raise ₹5,500 crore through OFS and fresh share sale.

- Yagnesh Kansara

Leading real estate player Lodha Developers Ltd (LDL) is likely to hit the market in the first fortnight of this August. The company is expected to mobilise about ₹5,500 crore through a combination of fresh share sale and the offer for share (OFS) by the promoters. The who’s who of the investment banking circuit are managing the company’s initial public offering (IPO). Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, CLSA India, JM Financial and Morgan Stanley India are the global coordinators and book running lead managers. (See table for details).

The new IPO is the second biggest initial share sale in the sector after DLF Ltd raised close to ₹9,200 crore in 2007. This is however not the first time that Lodha Developers has planned an IPO. In September 2009, the company filed the draft red herring prospectus (DHRP) to raise ₹2,800 crore. It received the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s approval in January 2010, but shelved plans due to unfavourable market conditions in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis that engulfed markets across the globe.

According to the company’s DRHP, fresh shares worth ₹3,750 crore will be issued. The promoters will sell up to 1.8 crore shares through an offer for sale. Out of the proceeds mobilised from the IPO, the company will use ₹3,300 crore for debt servicing. It had an outstanding debt of nearly ₹18,000 crore as of 31 January 2018, the draft prospectus said.

Population is key