LG Electronics considers reviving IPO of Indian unit by September

By Julia Fioretti, Baiju Kalesh, Rajesh Mascarenhas and Yoolim Lee

 

LG Electronics Inc. is considering reviving an initial public offering of its Indian unit as soon as September, people familiar with the matter said.

 

The South Korean company is planning to refile its preliminary prospectus with updated financial results after the summer, with the IPO potentially taking place as early as the fourth quarter, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.

 

LG Electronics paused work on the IPO in April, partly because of market volatility, Bloomberg News reported at the time. The company later said it would make a decision on the plan based on market conditions.  

 

 

Considerations are ongoing and LG Electronics could decide to delay the IPO further, the people said. A representative for the company declined to comment.

 

An LG Electronics India Ltd. IPO had been expected to raise as much as $1.7 billion, making it one of India’s larger floats. Investors pushed back against the parent’s valuation expectations, people familiar with the matter have said.

 

LG Electronics India said last month it plans to invest about $600 million over four years in a new factory, its third in the country, in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh.

 

Indian share sales have bounced back after a lull in the first quarter, helped by a rebound in the stock market — the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 Index is up about 12 per cent from a March low.  

 

While most activity has consisted of block trades and follow-on share sales, bankers expect the momentum to spill over into IPOs in the second half of the year, with some billion-dollar-plus listings in the pipeline.