Regulatory scrutiny of Lavasa IPO ends

The company plans to dilute 15 per cent stake for Rs 750 cr

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has issued ‘observations’ on Lavasa Corporation’s initial public offering (IPO), marking the end of the regulatory process before the IPO. This means, the company can now go ahead with the IPO, a company official said.

“Yes, we have got the go-ahead for the IPO. We will await clarity from the merchant bankers on when we should go ahead with the issue," said the company official cited above.

Axis Capital, ICICI Securities and Kotak Investment Banking are managers to the Lavasa issue. Draft offer documents had been filed with Sebi on July 1, 2014.

The company plans to issue a Rs 750-crore IPO. It had announced a Rs 2,000-crore IPO in 2010. However, plans were dropped due to adverse market conditions at the time. A Business Standard report had earlier noted that valuations were likely to be lower this time. The company had planned to dilute 10 per cent stake for Rs 2,000 crore. This time, it plans to dilute 15 per cent for Rs 750 crore.  The majority stake in the company is held by HCC Real Estate, the realty arm of Ajit Gulabchand’s Hindustan Construction Company, according to the draft red herring prospectus. The company holds a 68.7 per cent stake in Lavasa. Gautam Thapar’s Avantha Group owns 17.18 per cent. Venkateshwara Hatcheries holds 7.81 per cent while Pune-based investor Vinay Maniar held 6.29 per cent.

The company had faced some controversy during its IPO attempt in 2010. Lavasa had been involved in setting up India’s planned hill city. The environment and forests ministry slapped a showcause notice to Lavasa in November 2010 for allegedly violating the Environment Impact Assessment Notification.

A separate public interest litigation (PIL) had also been filed against the company, claiming violation of Section 9 and 10 of the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) Act, 1961. The PIL alleged that the firm purchased 10,000 acres of land in violation of regulations.