Lodha Developers to file for IPO, to raise ~55 bn

Lodha Developers, the Mumbai-based realty group, is to soon file a draft prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for an Initial Public Offer (IPO) of equity, to raise about ~55 billion. Mainly for repaying debt, sources said.

It will be the second biggest IPO in the sector after Delhi-based DLF raised ~91.88 billion in 2007. There was no real estate IPO in recent years.

This is the second time Lodha is planning an IPO. It had filed a draft prospectus in September 2009 to raise about ~28 billion. Sebi’s nod came in January 2010 but Lodha then shelved the plan, due to bad market conditions after the global financial crisis.

A Lodha spokesperson declined to comment. In July last year, Abhishek Lodha, the managing director, had said the company was reviving the IPO plan.

“We are aiming for listing in calendar year 2018 and shall approach Sebi in the next six to nine months,” he had said. He had not disclosed the amount the company wanted to raise.

Sources say the ~55-billion aim included preplacement of shares. The group achieved sales booking of about ~85 billion during 2016-17, from both the domestic market and abroad. Abhishek Lodha had said in July that their

Indian debt stood at ~145 billion, while debt of the

London business was about £300 million (~27.9 billion).

The privately-held group is developing around 40 million sq ft of area and has 31 ongoing projects in London, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. It has a land bank of 350 mn sq ft for future development.

The group had forayed into the London realty market in 2013 and acquired two prime sites in central London for an investment of about £400 million. Lodha UK is eyeing sales revenue of £1.5 billion (over ~120 billion) from two ongoing housing projects in central London.

The group had forayed into the London realty market in 2013 and acquired two prime sites in central London for an investment of about £400 million