Mukesh Ambani, Tata Sons among names for one of India's busiest years for IPOs

Mukesh Ambani, Tata Sons among names for one of India’s busiest years for IPOs

Bank of America sees fundraising activity in India to be busier than ever in the next two years as conglomerates, tech firms and financial services providers hunt for capital to fuel growth and owners seize the moment to sell holdings.

“2023 was the year of block trades, 2024 is going to be the year of IPOs — and that momentum will most likely carry into 2025,” Debasish Purohit of Bofa said in an interview with Bloomberg News in Mumbai. “2024 and 2025 as a block will be the busiest years of IPOs in our lifetime.”

Purohit expects between 5 and 10 tech firms and two or three local subsidiaries of multinational companies to launch initial public offerings in the period.

Reliance Industries has been looking to list its wireless carrier Reliance Jio Infocomm and Reliance Retail Ventures for several years, while the financial services unit of Tata Sons, another giant conglomerate, is one of several shadow lenders that the Reserve Bank of India has told to list before 2025.

Hyundai Motor is also considering listing its Indian business in one of the country’s biggest IPOs.

“Every single private equity fund that you talk to wants to have a China plus strategy, so you’ll see at least two, three funds being raised for India alone,” said Purohit, who has worked in investment banking for over two decades.

Some founders of Indian companies will partner with financial sponsors to spur growth, while others will exit or sell assets amid sector consolidation or based on family decisions, according to Purohit.

“These are three or four broad areas which will attract M&A,” he said. “If you get 7% to 8% of the fee pool you are in a good place.”

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