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Grapevine: Blackstone plans Aadhar Housing IPO; Strides Pharma, Mytrah seek buyers

By Ankit Agarwal

  • 08 Dec 2020
Grapevine: Blackstone plans Aadhar Housing IPO; Strides Pharma, Mytrah seek buyers
Credit: Reuters

Private equity firm Blackstone Group Inc. has started a process to float an initial public offering of mortgage lender Aadhar Housing Finance Ltd, a media report said.

The buyout giant has hired three investment banks including Citigroup and ICICI Securities for the IPO, Mint reported, citing three people aware of the development it didn’t identify.

The IPO’s size is likely to be around Rs 5,000 crore and it could hit the market by June next year, the report said.

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Blackstone had acquired Aadhar Housing last year from Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd, Wadhawan Global Capital Ltd as well as group chairman Kapil Wadhawan and his family. The PE firm injected fresh capital into Aadhar earlier this year.

In another report, Mint said that pharmaceutical entrepreneur Arun Kumar and other promoters of Strides Pharma Science Ltd are looking to sell their stake in the drugmaker.

Citing two people it didn’t identify, the report said that the promoters have hired investment bank Moelis & Co for the potential transaction.

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Kumar and other promoters own a 29.69% stake in Strides, stock-exchange data show.

The move comes after Kumar and several other individuals sold their respective stakes in SeQuent Scientific Ltd, a bulk-drugs maker focused on animal healthcare, to buyout firm Carlyle earlier this year.

Separately, Hyderabad-based wind and solar power company Mytrah Energy is looking to sell a majority stake, Mint reported, citing two people aware of the matter.

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The company is planning to hire Barclays Bank to find a buyer, the report said, adding that the move comes a potential deal with private equity firm KKR fell apart.

Media reports late last year had said that KKR was in talks to buy Mytrah for Rs 5,250 crore ($750 million).

Mytrah Energy has been struggling for the last few years as its debt ballooned and it swung to a loss for 2018-19 from a profit the year before, according to a VCCircle analysis last year.

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In another development, The Economic Times reported that stressed asset investors Oaktree Capital, Varde Partners and SC Lowy were among those interested in joining Yes Bank for its planned asset reconstruction company (ARC).

Citing two people aware of the development said, the report said that the bank was looking to house Rs 40,000 crore of bad loans in the proposed ARC and that it had sought approval for the ARC from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The report comes after VCCircle reported last month, citing Yes Bank CEO Prashant Kumar, the lender was engaging with eight to 10 potential investors for the ARC and that it was working on the structure and seeking regulatory approvals.

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