Blackstone-Backed Aadhar Housing To Refile IPO Papers With Reduced Size

Aadhar Housing Finance Ltd. plans to refile for the initial public offering with a lower size by next month.

The housing finance company backed by private equity gaint Blackstone is aiming to file the draft red-herring prospectus with SEBI by February, two people in the know told NDTV Profit.

The company aims to raise about Rs 4,000–6,000 crore; though, the actual issue size will depend on the equity shares offered under OFS, one of the two people mentioned above said on the condition of anonymity.

This is lower than the Rs 7,000 crore that the company had aimed to raise when it filed for an IPO in January 2021, for which it got the market regulator's nod in May 2022. However, the validity of the public issue lapsed last year.

The issue will consist of a mix of fresh issues and offers for sale, which will include Blackstone partly exiting the firm, said the second of the two people mentioned above without giving details about the stake that the private equity plans to sell.

BCP TOPCO VII Pte., an entity managed by Blackstone, acquired a stake in Aadhar Housing Finance in June 2019 from Dewan Housing Finance Co. and the Wadhawan group.

The housing finance company provides housing finance to lower and middle-income groups and has assets under management of over Rs 18,000 crore as of Q2 of FY23–24, with a disbursement of Rs 3,163 crore as of H1 FY24. It is present across 481 branches and offices in 20 states and UTs.

Its gross non-performing assets stood at 1.38% as of the quarter ended September 2023, while its net NPA stood at 0.85%, according to the financial highlights from the company's website.