Abhishek Securities

While several private equity-backed companies have sold shares to the public this year, several others that were expected to have deferred or abandoned their plans, denying exits to their private equity, or PE, investors. Warburg Pincus-backed ACB (India) Ltd; TPG and Actis-backed AGS Transact Technologies Ltd; Tano Capital-backed logistics firm Shree Shubham Logistics Ltd; Catholic Syrian Bank Ltd; Blackstone-backed Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd; and CX Partners-backed Matrix Cellular (International) Services Ltd have failed to access the primary market for share sale even after obtaining clearances from stock market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) as far back as six months in some cases. This contrasts with the decent run some PE firms have had this year in terms of partial or complete exits through initial public offerings (IPOs) of portfolio companies. There have been about 10 IPOs this calendar year, which collectively raised  Rs. 6,743 crore, according to ...

  The primary market is slowly becoming more discerning about who it lets in, with investors not hesitating to turn their backs on companies they think don’t make the cut. Since 2011-12, of the 132 IPO applications approved by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), 67 lapsed. In the three months from April to June this year, of the 13 companies that SEBI cleared to launch their IPOs, seven didn’t come to the market. This is much higher than in the whole of FY15, when four out of 16 IPOs failed to make it. A merchant banker, who did not wish to be quoted, said there is more “investor pushback now because they disagree about a company’s valuations or business fundamentals”. In some cases, the company fails to enthuse institutional investors during the roadshows and publicity programmes to attract investors. If institutions don’t show adequate interest, the IPO is mothballed before retail investors even hear about it. In other cases, the timing has gone w...

F inancial services company SMC Global Securities has filed draft red herring prospectus with SEBI for public issue of 1,58,67,380 equity shares of face value of Rs 2 each. The issue comprises a fresh issue of 79,33,690 equity shares by the company and an offer for sale of 79,33,690 shares by Millennium India Acquisition Company Inc. As of September 30, 2012, "We service our broking clients through a network of 43 branches and 2,521 registered sub-brokers and authorized persons spread in more than 500 cities and towns. We have also established an office in Dubai for brokerage and trading activities in that region," the company said. SMC has reported a loss of Rs 0.42 crore and total revenues of Rs 292.24 crore in the year ended March 31, 2012. "The proceeds of the fresh issue shall be utilised for margin maintenance with stock exchanges; part repayment of term loan; investments into subsidiary, SMC Comtrade; and general corporate purposes," according to p...