Prudential India Asset Manager Is Said To Near IPO Filing
The submission would kickstart the review process of what could be one of India’s biggest IPOs this year.
Prudential Plc’s Indian asset-management venture is close to filing preliminary documents with the local regulator for a proposed initial public offering that may fetch as much as 100 billion rupees ($1.2 billion), according to people familiar with the matter.
ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co.’s so-called draft red herring prospectus will probably be filed in the next three to four weeks, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. The company has hired a record 17 lead managers for the offering, which may value the firm at about $12 billion, they said.
The submission would kickstart the review process of what could be one of India’s biggest IPOs this year, the latest sign that the country’s new-listings market is on the cusp of a revival. That comes amid the backdrop of a rally in Indian shares, with the nation’s benchmark Nifty 50 stock index approaching a record high.
ICICI Prudential, a venture between UK-based Prudential and India’s ICICI Bank Ltd., is the country’s second-largest mutual fund manager by assets.
ICICI Securities Ltd. and Citigroup Inc. were initially tapped to arrange the listing but the asset manager has since added 15 other banks, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley, the people said.
India’s last billion-dollar IPO was Hexaware Technologies Ltd.’s in February.
The companies and banks didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
