Residential real estate firm Macrotech Developers, earlier known as Lodha Developers, will open its initial public offering (IPO) next week to raise Rs 2,500 crore, the company said in a statement.
The fresh equity offer, from April 7-9, will have a share price band of Rs 483-486.
The proceeds will be used for debt reduction (up to Rs 1,500 crore), land acquisition or land development rights (up to Rs 375 crore) and for general corporate purposes.
The company had filed for IPO in February and received approval a few days back.
This is the third attempt to list shares through an initial public offering (IPO). Lodha had received approval in 2010 but aborted the plan.
Again, in 2018, it got a nod but faced regulatory hurdles.
The upcoming listing is a significant development for India’s real estate market. The ecosystem has not seen any pure-play real estate developer go public at least in the last decade.
The residential segment has been on a downhill journey for many years, leading to low confidence among investors and stakeholders. Plus, fraud and cheating by developers in the last few years has further eroded confidence.
To be sure, a bunch of developers focused on commercial real estate have gone public: Embassy Office Parks, Mindspace REIT and Brookfield REIT. Commercial real estate, which is largely owned and backed by offshore investors, has been on a growth trajectory for the last few years. Its long-term prospects have not eroded despite the work-from-home trend.
Macrotech Developers claims to have completed approximately 77.2 million square feet across 91 projects. It has 54 ongoing and planned projects having approximately 73.8 million square feet of developable area.
It claims its strength lies in its core business of residential real estate developments with a focus on affordable and mid-income housing.
In 2019, Macrotech Developers forayed into the development of logistics and industrial parks by entering into a joint venture with a subsidiary of ESR Cayman, an Asia-Pacific-focused logistics real estate platform.
Axis Capital, JPMorgan India, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company are the global coordinators and book-running lead managers to the issue.
ICICI Securities, Edelweiss Financial Services, IIFL Securities, JM Financial, YES Securities (India), SBI Capital Markets and BOB Capital Markets are the book-running lead managers to the Issue.