DB Corp to Launch $83M IPO Fri - Sources

December 08 2009, 03:23:20 IST | REUTERS

The issue will reportedly close on Dec 15.

Indian media firm DB Corp will launch its initial public offering to raise about 3.85 billion rupees ($83 million) on Friday, three sources with direct knowledge of the deal said on Tuesday. "The price band will be decided tomorrow, and the anchor investors after that," said one of the sources, who declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media. The issue will close on Dec. 15, one source said.

The company will join a slew of companies that have tapped the market recently, encouraged by a stock market rally that has led the Mumbai index to more than double since March. DB Corp publishes seven newspapers in three languages across 11 states in India. Its flagship newspapers, Hindi-language Dainik Bhaskar and Gujarati-language Divya Bhaskar and Saurashtra Samachar, have a combined average daily readership of 15.5 million readers. The company also operates 17 FM radio stations through a subsidiary. Citigroup, Kotak Mahindra and Enam Securities are lead arrangers for the issue.

Activity in the global market for initial public offerings is charging ahead, riding on the rising risk appetite of investors as markets recover from the global financial crisis.