SEBI gives nod for Laurus Labs’ IPO

Securities Exchanges Board of India  (SEBI) has given its nod for an initial public offer (IPO) of Laurus Labs. The company had filed IPO papers with the market regulator in August, 2016. SEBI issued its final 'observations' on October 10 on the draft offer documents.

Prior to that, several healthcare companies have successfully launched their IPOs. These include diagnostics chain Dr Lal PathLabs and Thyrocare Technologies and hospital chain Narayana Hrudayala.

Laurus Labs will issue shares worth Rs 300 crore and an offer for sale of 24,844,240 equity scrips by the existing shareholders, including Warburg Pincus group and Eight Roads Ventures. On financial front, Laurus Labs’ revenue has increased by 31.65 per cent to Rs 1793 crore in FY16 as compared to previous financial year. The company’s net profit has boosted by 94.02 per cent to Rs 133 crore in FY16 on a yearly basis.

The company will utilise the funds raised for payment of loans and for general corporate purposes. The issue is being managed by Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, Citigroup Global Markets India, Jefferies India and SBI Capital Markets.

Laurus Labs is a leading research and development driven pharma company in India. The company has a leadership position in generic active pharmaceutical ingredients for high-growth therapeutic areas of anti-retrovirals and Hepatitis C.