Popular Vehicles and Services Ltd, a company involved in automotive dealerships, has submitted preliminary documents to the capital markets regulator Sebi for the purpose of raising funds through an initial public offering (IPO). This marks the company’s second attempt to go public. Previously, in August 2021, the firm had filed draft papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for an IPO but decided to postpone the debut public issue due to uncertain market conditions.
As per the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) filed on Thursday, the IPO will consist of fresh equity shares valued at Rs 250 crore and an Offer For Sale (OFS) of 1.42 crore equity shares by Banyantree Growth Capital II, LLC. Additionally, the company aims to secure Rs 50 crore in a pre-IPO placement round. If such a placement is executed, it will reduce the size of the fresh issue. The proceeds from the fresh issue will be allocated for debt repayment and general corporate purposes.
This Kerala-based company is a prominent and diversified automotive dealership firm in India, with a presence across the entire automotive retail value chain. Its operations encompass the sale of new passenger and commercial vehicles, vehicle servicing and repairs, distribution of spare parts, sales of pre-owned passenger vehicles, and facilitation of the sale of third-party financial and insurance products.
Popular Vehicles and Services Ltd operates passenger vehicle dealerships for brands like Maruti Suzuki, Honda, and JLR, as well as a commercial vehicle dealership for Tata Motors. ICICI Securities, Nuvama Wealth Management, and Centrum Capital have been appointed as merchant bankers to provide guidance to the company regarding the IPO. The company’s equity shares will be listed on both the BSE and NSE stock exchanges.
