These firms, which filed their preliminary papers with SEBI between September and November 2021, obtained observation letters from SEBI during February 16-17, an update with the regulator showed on Monday
API Holdings, the parent company of pharmacy platform PharmEasy and Adar Poonawalla-backed Wellness Forever Medicare have received markets regulator SEBI’s go-ahead to raise funds through initial share sales.
These firms, which filed their preliminary papers with SEBI between September and November 2021, obtained observation letters from Sebi during February 16-17, an update with the regulator showed on Monday.
In SEBI’s parlance, its observation implies go-ahead to launch an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
Going by the draft papers, API Holdings is looking to raise Rs 6,250 crore through the IPO. The IPO will be primary issuance of equity shares and does not have any Offer For Sale (OFS) component, which means the company’s existing shareholders will not divest their stakes.
The e-pharmacy startup plans to utilise the net proceeds to prepay or repay an outstanding debt of Rs 1,929 crore, fund organic growth initiatives totalling Rs 1,259 crore, pursue inorganic growth through acquisitions and other strategic initiatives aggregating to Rs 1,500 crore, and for general corporate purposes.
Wellness Forever Medicare, an omni-channel retail pharmacy, plans to mop-up Rs 1,500-1,600 crore through its IPO, as per market sources. The IPO consists of a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating to Rs 400 crore and an offer for sale up to 16,044,709 equity shares, as per the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP).
As part of OFS, up to 7,20,000 equity shares will be offloaded by Ashraf Mohammed Biran, up to 720,000 equity shares by Gulshan Haresh Bhahtiani, up to 120,000 equity shares by Mohan Ganpat Chavan and up to 14,484,709 equity shares by other existing shareholders. Recently, the pharmacy chain announced the nomination of three new independent directors — Avani Davda, Ranjit Shahani, and Kewal Handa — to its board of directors, with broad experience in banking, healthcare, and retail.