MEDICAL O2 GENERATOR SUPPLIER AIROX EXPLORES IPO

MUMBAI: Airox Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which manufactures medical-grade oxygen generation plants for hospitals and claims to have a 75% market share, is exploring plans to list on domestic bourses, said three people aware of the development.

Apart from supplying medical-grade oxygen generation plants to hospitals, the Aurangabad-based company, founded by Sanjay Jaiswal in 2011, also sells products for industrial oxygen applications.

“The company is engaged in talks with a couple of investment banks and is going to be meeting more banks as well as law firms in the coming weeks for the proposed IPO. The IPO plan is at a very early stage, and details such as the size of the IPO and stake dilution will be discussed at a later date when a bank syndicate is appointed. The plan is to explore a listing this year,” said the first person cited above.

According to him, Airox saw a significant jump in business due to the Covid-19 pandemic, especially during April-may 2021, when the devastating second wave and medical-grade oxygen shortages exposed India’s creaking healthcare infrastructure.

The second wave, which saw peak daily cases of over 400,000 across the country, triggered an oxygen supply scarcity, resulting in patients having to scour for oxygen cylinders from private markets and black marketeers.

India’s medical oxygen supply chain was severely disrupted due to the steep rise in demand—from 3,842 metric tonnes (MT) per day on April 12, 2021 to 8,400 MT per day by April 25, and further up to 11,000 MT per day by early May—before gradually reducing as the number of fresh cases fell, noted Observer Research Foundation in a June report. “The company has revenues in the range of ₹100-200 crore, but is highly profitable,” the first person cited above said.