Infibeam, TeamLease file for IPO

E-retailer Infibeam and staffing firm TeamLease on Tuesday initiated the process of filing for initial public offerings (IPOs) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to raise Rs 450-500 crore each. IndiGo had also filed for an IPO on Tuesday.

Becoming the first e-commerce player to tap the IPO route, Infibeam plans to mop-up around Rs 450 crore. Joining the IPO bandwagon, TeamLease Services has approached Sebi with plans to raise an estimated Rs 450-500 crore through IPO.

That apart, Biocon arm Syngene, Prabhat Dairy, Navkar Corp and Catholic Syrian Bank have already got the go-ahead from Sebi and plan to hit the capital market in two-three months, with IPO offers totalling about Rs 2,000 crore.

Started in 2007, Infibeam runs several e-commerce services such as Infibeam.com, Indent, BuildaBazaar, Incept and Picsquare. Last year, Sony Music had bought a 26 per cent stake in Indent.

TeamLease Services' Managing Director & Co-Founder Ashok Reddy said the company was exploring multiple options to facilitate the aggressive growth that it plan for the future.

After a long lull, IPO markets have begun to heat up as over 30 companies have lined up plans to raise funds totalling over Rs 20,000 crore through public offers, including Coffee Day Enterprises and Matrix Cellular.

At least 21 of these firms have already got the go-ahead from market regulator Sebi to launch their respective IPOs.

GVK Group also plans to list its airports business arm, GVK Airport Developers and raise about Rs 3,000 crore.

The flurry of activities also comes at a time when the regulator Sebi has announced a slew of fresh reforms in the IPO space, including halving the listing period to six days.

So far this year, eight companies have collectively raised nearly Rs 4,000 crore through IPOs. In comparison, a total of six IPOs had hit the market in the entire 2014 and together garnered just Rs 1,528 crore.