Indegene appoints bankers for IPO; Carlyle likely to exit company

By Priyanka Gawande

  • 12 Sep 2022

Indegene Pvt. Ltd, a technology-led healthcare solutions provider has appointed bankers—JP Morgan India Pvt Ltd and Kotak Mahindra Capital Co Ltd for their forthcoming initial public offering (IPO) of the company, people aware of the matter said on condition of anonymity, adding that the company is likely to raise Rs 2,500 crore from the markets.

Private equity firm Carlyle, an investor in Indegene, is expected to sell its stake in the IPO, the people said on the condition of anonymity. The company has appointed JP Morgan India Pvt. Ltd and Kotak Mahindra Capital Co. Ltd to manage the share sale, they said.

Queries emailed to the company and the bankers remained unanswered.

The issue will be an entire offer for sale. The funds will be used for funding working capital requirements and general corporate purposes. 

This comes as a slew of companies are trying to hit the capital markets due to the current optimism in the market. Recently, the issue of Dreamfolks Services witnessed a strong listing on Tuesday at ₹505, a 55% premium to the issue price of ₹326 while Tamilnad Mercantile Bank closed its subscription on Tuesday where it was oversubscribed by 2.86 times. 

As per Ahmedabad-based market analyst Parthiv Shah, who heads a wealth management firm said “Most IPOs come at a premium valuation as in many cases it’s the promoter selling stake via OFS or private equity exit. So, they seek high valuations which is possible only during good secondary market sentiments” .

Incorporated in 1998, the Bengaluru-based health-tech firm Indegene is engaged in research and experimental development on natural sciences and engineering. It has global presence in US, UK, Europe, China, Japan and India. 

Essentially, it provides solutions like product commercialization, enterprise marketing and customer experience, data and analytics , medical transformation and learning and development solutions. It mainly caters to bio-tech companies, medical device manufacture     

Many of the leading global healthcare organizations rely on Indegene to deliver effective and efficient clinical, medical and commercial outcomes every day, according to the company’s official website.

In terms of financials, the company said it clocked Rs 176 crore in revenue in the year ended March 2022, up from Rs 71.1 crore in the year ended March 2020, as per the company.

It’s profit after tax as of March 2021 stood at Rs 133 crore while the total income of the company was Rs 535 crore both higher than numbers compared to March 2020, as per VCC Edge data platform. 

Hinting at the current market conditions, a banker of a state-owned bank said that we expect companies to file their draft red-herring prospectus by the third quarter while a few companies may also look at listing in next few months.   

On the other hand, a broker with a private firm said, anchor investors are currently not very keen on every second IPO that is coming to market. 

“We are witnessing that most anchor investors are shying away from the valuations that have been offered by the companies lately. Most companies we know have either put on hold their plans of going public while many are in wait and watch mode,” he said.   

Mint reached out to the company and the bankers, however, none commented on the development.