Aether Industries' Rs 808-cr IPO to open May 24; price band at Rs 610-642

Proceeds from the fresh issuance will be used to fund the speciality chemicals company's capex requirements for the proposed new project in Surat, fund working capital requirements and to pay debt

Speciality chemicals company Aether Industries on Thursday said it has fixed a price band of Rs 610-642 for its Rs 808-crore initial public offering (IPO).

The initial share-sale will open for public subscription on May 24 and conclude on May 26. The bidding for anchor investors will open on May 23, the company announced.

The company has cut the size of the fresh issue of equity shares to Rs 627 crore from Rs 757 crore planned earlier following the pre-IPO placement. Apart from fresh issue, there will be an offer-for-sale (OFS) of up to 28.2 lakh equity shares by the promoter. At the upper end of the price band, the public issue is expected to fetch Rs 808 crore.

Proceeds from the fresh issuance will be used to fund capital expenditure requirements for the proposed new project in Surat, Gujarat, fund working capital requirements and for payment of debt.

Half of the issue size has been reserved for qualified institutional investors, 35 per cent for retail investors and the remaining 15 per cent for non-institutional investors.

Investors can bid for a minimum of 23 equity shares and in multiples of 23 thereafter.

Aether Industries is a speciality chemicals manufacturer in India focused on producing advanced intermediates and speciality chemicals involving complex and differentiated chemistry and technology core competencies.

It started with a research and development (R&D) unit in 2013 and began commercial production in 2017. It caters to the pharmaceutical, agrochemical, material science, electronic chemical, high performance photography and oil and gas industry segments.

The company's operating revenue grew to Rs 450 crore in FY21, from Rs 302 crore in FY20. Its net profit climbed to Rs 71 crore in FY21, from Rs 40 crore in FY20.

HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company are the book running lead managers to the issue.