Music Broadcast Ltd (MBL), the radio unit of Blackstone-backed media house Jagran Prakashan Ltd, is seeking a valuation of nearly Rs 1,900 crore ($285 million) through an initial public offering that begins next week.
MBL will be the first radio operator to float an IPO in more than a decade, after Times Group-controlled Entertainment Network (India) Ltd went public in November 2005. ENIL commands a market valuation of about Rs 3,750 crore, stock-exchange data show.
MBL has priced its offering in a band of Rs 324-333 a share, the company said on Monday. The company, which owns and operates under the Radio City brand name, aims to raise about Rs 488 crore through a fresh issue of shares and a sale of shares by promoter group individuals Sameer Gupta and other members of the Gupta family.
The overall issue size is pegged at 14.67 million shares, of which existing shareholders will off-load about 2.66 million. The issue will result in a dilution of a 25.71% stake on post-offer equity capital.
The IPO will open on 6 March and close two days later, the company said last week. The anchor book will open on 3 March.
Anchor investors are institutional investors who accept a one-month lock-in period for a sizeable allocation of shares and support a public offering. Their participation highlights investors’ confidence in an IPO and sets a benchmark for the investor community at large.
MBL received final observations from the Securities and Exchange Board of India on 9 February. Jagran Prakasan had filed draft documents for an IPO of its radio unit on 1 December.
Jagran Prakashan had entered the radio segment with the acquisition of Music Broadcast Pvt Ltd in December 2014 from private equity firm India Value Fund Advisors and Star Group, which is part of the Rupert Murdoch-controlled 21st Century Fox. Murdoch also runs News Corp, the parent of this news website.
For more details of Music Broadcast’s IPO, click here.
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