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Making way for exit of private equity investors Actis and CLSA, Jyothy Labaratories, the makers of Ujala fabric whitener and Maxo mosquito repellent coils, has filed its draft red herring prospectus with the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for an initial public sale. The company plans to sell 44,30,260 equity shares of Rs 5 each, which will constitute 30.52 per cent of the post-issue capital of the company. The premium of the share issue will be decided later. According to earlier reports, the company was expected to raise about Rs 300 crore - on the valuation of about Rs 1,000 crore.

The investors who are exiting via the IPO include ARIA Investment Partners (CLSA), South Asia Regional Fund and CDC Investment Holdings (both affiliates of Actis), ICICI Bank Canada and ICICI Bank UK Plc. Kotak Mahindra Capital Company and Enam Financial Consultants are the lead managers to the offer.

Jyothy Labs' shareholding structure is like this - a 70 per cent stake is held by founder Chairman and Managing Director M P Ramachandran and his family. The remaining 30 per cent is with private equity firms CLSA and Actis (who together have invested Rs 120 crore or $26.5 million in 2002) along with the foreign subsidiaries of ICICI Bank. Actis alone has invested $13.72 million in Jyothy from 2002 till date.

Jyothy, set up in 1983, grew from a small scale unit in a small town in Kerala to one of the fastest growing FMCG companies in India. The company has sales in the range of $100 million.

Related:

Jyothy Laboratories IPO In End 2007; CLSA, Actis To Exit