No rush for Indian IPOs

Published on 03.02.2012

A rally in Indian share prices since New Year have prompted secondary sales rather than moves towards IPOs. Private equity firms Carlyle and Warburg Pincus sold shares in financial companies worth US$440m. However, Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao did celebrate his victory in a US$2.2bn legal tax battle with the Indian government by saying this removed a barrier to an IPO of his business in that country. Analysts estimate selling a one third stake could raise £3.5-4bn. One TMT sector IPO that looks unlikely to make it is for mobile distributor Micromax Mobiles. The company has SEBI clearance to raise Rs4.3bn in a public offering, but its one year permission expires this month and the New Year recovery in share prices may not be sufficient to bring it to market.