Over 40 cos await Sebi nod for initial share sale,rights issue

More than 40 companies including Bhushan Steel and TV 18 Broadcast Ltd are awaiting green signal from market regulator Sebi to come out with their initial share sales and rights issues.

The IPO documents of six of the companies -- Jain Infraprojects, Shirdi Industries, NKG Infrastructure, Tunip Agro, Palco Recycle Industries and Splash Media & Infra -- have been pending with Sebi since 2010.

Draft documents for initial public offering from as many as 33 companies and preliminary papers for rights issues from 11 entities are under process, according to latest available with Sebi.

The data compiled from September 2009 onwards is updated till August 3.

Last month alone, three companies  -- Bajaj Finserv Ltd, City Union Bank and Reliance Mediaworks Ltd --  filed papers for rights issue. V-Mart Retail Ltd submitted draft document for an IPO on July 23.

Bajaj Finserv and City Union filed the documents on July 18 while Reliance Mediaworks did it on July 30.

So far this year, the market regulator has received draft documents for 10 initial public offers.

As per regulations, Sebi might issue observations on a draft offer document filed with it within 30 days from the date of receipt of papers, among others.

In some cases, observations are issued only after receiving satisfactory reply from lead merchant bankers if Sebi has sought any clarification or additional information from them.

Other entities awaiting Sebi nod for IPOs include Javved Habib Hair and Beauty, Ambuja Intermediates, Repco Home Finance, Credit Analysis Research, Bohra Industries, Advanta India and Tara Jewels.

According to Sebi, the follow-on public offer document of Mukesh Udyog Ltd is pending since early 2011. The company filed its papers on March 29 last year.

Amid sluggish market conditions, the amount raised by way of initial public offers has dropped over 60 per cent in the first six months of this year.

In the six months ended June, Indian companies mopped up just Rs 1,264 crore, compared to Rs 3,392 crore in the same period last year.

Major initial share sales so far this year include that of commodity bourse MCX's Rs 663 crore IPO. Besides, Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri and Specialty Restaurants have raised Rs 200 crore and Rs 176 crore respectively.