CDPQ, Others among Aster DM’s anchor investors

Aster DM Healthcare Ltd has raised Rs 294.04 crore ($45.68 million) from anchor investors including Canadian pension fund CDPQ and UK-based First State Investments ahead of its initial public offering.

Started by non-resident Indian businessman Azad Moopen, the Company allotted 15.47 million shares at the upper end of the Rs 180-190 price band to seven anchor investors.

Exchange filings showed, First State Investments bought a little more than 2.5 million shares worth Rs 48 crore. CDPQ, short for Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, purchased shares worth Rs 21.56 crore.

Other anchor investors include Hong Kong-based investment Karst Peak, Deutsche Bank’s Asia investment arm DB International Asia and Societe Generale. Indian asset managers SBI Mutual Fund and Sundaram Mutual Fund also participated in the anchor allotment.

Hospital operator Aster DM had re-filed its draft IPO proposal with the Securities and Exchange Board of India on 9 August. It received regulatory nod to float an IPO on 27 October.

The company postponed its earlier plan of an IPO as it did not get the valuation it desired. Its original plan had received SEBI nod in November 2016. The company was earlier looking to mop up Rs 609-812 crore via a fresh issue of shares.

At the upper end of the price band, the company is seeking a valuation of about Rs 9,600 crore ($1.5 billion). It will become India’s second-most-valued hospital firm, behind Apollo Hospitals but ahead of Fortis Healthcare and Narayana Hrudayalaya, which were thrown open to public in 2016.

The company has trimmed its IPO size and is now raising Rs 725 crore compared with the proposed Rs 775 crore at the time of filing its draft prospectus. The proceeds will be used to repay debt and buy medical equipment.

Aster DM will join a clutch of pharmaceutical and healthcare companies that have gone public over the past couple of years. These include ChrysCapital-backed Eris Lifesciences, which floated its IPO in June 2017. Diagnostics companies Dr Lal PathLabs Ltd and Thyrocare Technologies Ltd, and hospital chains Narayana Health and Healthcare Global Enterprises Ltd are among the other healthcare companies that have floated IPOs.

Merchant bankers managing Aster DM’s IPO include Kotak Mahindra Capital, Axis Capital, Goldman Sachs, ICICI Securities, JM Financial and Yes Securities.