Author
Harsh Batra
Harsh Batra
For months, IPO headlines in India have been hard to miss. A buoyant market (and a useful route to capital in a world of elevated global interest rates) drew in a long list of companies, even prompting SEBI to ease some rules along the way. But now the mood appears to be shifting.
You may have noticed that our IPO curation has cooled off in recent editions. That is because the signs now point to a broader turning point. A series of reports analysed by Fortune India suggest that several companies have already deferred their public issue plans, including PhonePe, boAt and Flipkart.
Reuters has picked up a similar reading, noting that India’s IPO queue is lengthening as market heavyweights hold back their plans, waiting for geopolitical tensions to ease and foreign inflows to recover.
Is this the sign of a market about to pivot? Or just a reality check after months of euphoria? Time will tell.
In the meantime, don’t miss this week’s highlights:
- Blackstone-backed PE funds and co-investors acquired a stake in Neysa Networks. The transaction follows a US$ 1.2bn capital raise, comprising up to US$ 600mn of equity capital and a planned additional US$600 million of debt financing.
- In a huge outbound move, Inox Clean Energy acquired US-based Boviet Solar manufacturing assets in a transaction valued at about US$ 750mn. The acquired assets include 3 GW of operational solar module manufacturing capacity in the United States and a binding agreement to acquire 3 GW of solar cell manufacturing capacity expected to become operational by December 2026.
- Adani Power signed definitive agreements to acquire a 24% stake in Jaiprakash Power Ventures and the 180 MW Churk thermal power plant. The transaction is split between a share purchase agreement for Jaiprakash Associates’ 24% stake in JPVL for about ₹2,993.6 crore and a business transfer agreement for the Churk thermal plant and related assets, including JAL’s 11.49% stake in Prayagraj Power Generation Company, for ₹1,200 crore.
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Enjoy the read.
Deals Tracker
Rumour mill
- Anant Raj has constituted a committee to evaluate a potential demerger of its data centre business
- Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, said he wants to restore the company’s controlling stake in Airtel. Bharti Telecom historically held a controlling stake in Airtel, but its shareholding has diluted over the years through capital raising exercises and strategic transactions
- Diagnostic chain Metropolis Healthcare has said it is open to a pipeline of 4 to 5 acquisitions over the next 3 years
- A global consortium including names such as Temasek and Alpha Wave Global is negotiating to invest $1.3 billion in the Adani Group’s airports business. Four investors are expected to join the initiative, which is seeking a stake in India’s largest airport operator
- The Indian government is exploring ways to revive buyer interest in a majority stake in IDBI Bank, currently valued at $8b. One of the options is to reduce the reserve price by as much as 20% after buyers balked in the previous round, which was halted in March
- INOXGFL is the front-runner to acquire Vena Energy’s India business, a 1.1 gigawatt renewable energy platform currently owned by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). The proposed transaction is expected to ascribe an enterprise value of ₹4,500-5,000 crore to Vena Energy India
- Fairfax India Holdings Corporation on Monday made an open offer to buy an additional 26% stake in IIFL Capital Services. The offer price was set at Rs 350 per share for around 10 crore fully paid-up equity shares of face value of Rs 2 of IIFL
- Organic Tattva is looking for external investors and has hired a banker to run the process
- After announcing the acquisition of Bharti Life this week, Prudential will have to pare its 12% stake in ICICI Prudential Life, as foreign insurers cannot hold positions in more than 2 life insurance companies in India. Reports suggest the company will seek a window of 12 to 18 months to complete the divestment
- CloudExtel is planning to spend ₹1,500 crore to ₹2,000 crore over the next three to five years acquiring smaller local cable operators and niche players, as it aims to take a larger share of the network-as-a-service market
- BII has initiated talks to invest in Fornax, an India-based business services company backed by mid-market PE firm Carpediem Capital
- 360 ONE Asset Management is planning to reinvest in its medtech portfolio. In January this year the firm was already active in the sector with the acquisition of House of Diagnostics
Job moves
- Sumit Jain to exit Unacademy ahead of upGrad acquisition
- Tata Communications has appointed Ganapathi S. Lakshminarayanan as its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer for a five-year term beginning May 20, 2026, subject to shareholder approval
- Barclays will appoint Nikhil Jha as head of its Singapore-based operation focused on the Indian diaspora, according to people familiar with the matter
- A major appointment at one of India’s most relevant regulators. Gunveer Singh has been named Executive Director of the RBI, with immediate effect
- Sandeep Ghosh is the new CEO of Trilegal. The ex-Visa India Head will be a key piece in the firm’s next leg of growth
- Anant Raj, which has already appeared in this edition with its demerger plans, has also appointed Anish Sarin as Director
Fundraising
- BII and CIP have launched North Star, a $300 million renewable energy platform designed to accelerate clean power development across India. The platform combines $150 million from BII and an additional $150 million from CIP through its Growth Markets Fund II
- Gen Z investing startup Trackk has raised $3.7 mn in a seed funding round led by Lightspeed, with participation from Info Edge Ventures and angel investors including Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini, Tanmay Bhatt, Varun Mayya and Gaurav Kapoor
- Solfin Sustainable Finance has secured Rs 280 crore in a fresh round from a group of undisclosed investors
- Piper Serica has launched a ₹800 crore Bharat Tech Fund to invest in semiconductors, defence, artificial intelligence, deep-tech and space-tech startups. The fund is now targeting around 22 companies for Series A and B investments, with a ticket size of ₹25-40 crore per company, an IRR of 30% and a holding period of 6 years
- InCred Alternative has invested around Rs 185 crore in VEM Technologies through its private equity funds
- Deep-tech startup Anscer Robotics has raised ₹45 crore in a Series A round led by IAN Alpha Fund, with participation from Info Edge and other angel investors
- Aditya Birla Group has approved a preferential issuance of Rs 2,880 crore to Grasim Industries, Rs 200 crore to Suryaja Investment and Rs 920 crore to International Finance Corporation (IFC)
- Hong Kong-based Kuark Capital has launched a $400m hedge fund to invest in Asian businesses focused primarily on artificial intelligence. The main focus is on Taiwan and Japan, but India could be in play
- Kotak Alternate Asset Managers has invested Rs 20 crore in Cellogen Therapeutics, a biotech firm focused on cell and gene therapies
- Bain Capital has announced the final close of Asia Fund VI, raising a total of $10.5b, significantly above the previous target of $7 billion. Of that total, $9.1 billion was raised entirely from external investors and institutional partners
- Shapoorji Pallonji Group has secured over half of its planned $2.7 bn fundraising. The goal is to complete the deal before the end of next month
- Indian toy brand Legend of Toys has raised Rs 21 crore in its Pre-Series A funding round, with participation from Singularity Early Opportunities Fund, Veltis Capital, Enzia Ventures, DeVC, Atrium Angels and Stride
- Kotak Alts has invested $78 Mn in Lloyds Metals
IPOs
- Arohan Financial Services has filed its preliminary papers for an IPO. The company is eyeing ₹600 cr via fresh issue. Apart from the fresh issue, there will be an offer for sale (OFS) of 4.04 crore shares by existing investors
- MakeMyTrip has reiterated its focus on an IPO in India. The company’s CFO has said that several internal restructuring processes have already been completed to ensure the robustness of the initial share offering. The timeline, however, has not been disclosed
- Quadria-backed Aragen Life is considering an initial public offering in Mumbai, aiming to raise up to $300 million
