Private equity firms Carlyle and Kedaara Capital can now move forward with their plans to monetize their investments in Hexaware Technologies Ltd and Ajax Engineering Ltd, respectively, after the companies received regulatory approval to float initial public offerings.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India issued its final observations—akin to its approval—to the two companies’ IPO documents on January 16, according to the regulator’s website.
SEBI approved IPO plans of four other companies last week—PMEA Solar Tech Solutions Ltd, All Time Plastics Ltd, Scoda Tubes Ltd, and Vikran Engineering Ltd. It also returned the draft papers of Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers Ltd.
Kedaara Capital, which raised India's largest sector-agnostic PE fund last year, is offering to sell its entire 6.5% stake in Ajax Engineering via an offer for sale in the IPO. VCCircle had reported in October that the PE firm could score benchmark returns from the exit. The PE firm had invested Rs 240 crore via a secondary transaction in 2019.
Ajax Engineering’s revenue was Rs 1,741 crore in the year ended March 31, 2024, with net profit rising 60% to Rs 225 crore.
Meanwhile, Carlyle plans to sell shares worth Rs 9,950 crore ($1.2 billion) in the Hexaware IPO, according to its draft papers. Caryle had acquired a controlling stake in Hexaware in 2021, a year after the tech company was taken private by its former controlling shareholder, Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA).
Carlyle will be the only existing shareholder selling its stake in the company, which provides information technology and consulting services. Hexaware will not issue any fresh shares in the IPO.
