From LIC and IRFC to Kalyan Jewellers and Zomato — here’s a look at likely IPO candidates for 2021

The dedicated financing arm of the Indian Railways, Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) initial public offering of about ₹4,600 crore may hit the markets in January 2021, a first by a NBFC in the public sector.

The company’s management earlier revealed that it plans to utilise the funds mopped up from the offer. Amitabh Banerjee, Chairman and Managing Director, IRFC said that 10% of the issuance would go to the company’s balance sheet and that will increase its net worth, and from that, the firm will be using it for raising more money from the market.

The IPO from Life Insurance Corporation is one of the most awaited IPO of 2021. In a recent development, India's central government has appointed Milliman Advisors LLP India for arriving at the embedded value of LIC ahead of its IPO.

The IPO is likely to be held in the first half of 2021. According to reports, it is expected to be the largest ever public offer in the history of the domestic capital markets. In Budget 2020, the government had set a target of ₹90,000 crore to be collected through selling stakes in LIC and IDBI Bank.

HDB Financial Services, the subsidiary of India’s largest private lender bank HDFC, is gearing up to hit the primary markets in 2021. The company is looking to raise ₹9000 crore from the public offering, and it will be the fifth HDFC group company to list on stock exchanges.

Reports indicate that the company has already appointed Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley to manage its IPO. HDFC Bank is the promoter of the company and holds 95.53% stake in HDB Financial Services.

Kerala based Indian jewellery showroom chain, Kalyan Jewellers, is also expected to launch a ₹1,750 crore initial public offering (IPO) in the first quarter of the calendar year 2021.

The ₹1,750 crore IPO will be the largest in its sector. The issue will consist of a fresh fundraise of ₹1,000 crore and sale by promoter TS Kalyanaraman and the Warburg Pincus of ₹750 crore.

The Kerala-based ESAF Small Finance Bank had filed DRHP in January and subsequently got the approval from SEBI at the end of March. However, the bank delayed its initial public offering due to the volatile market conditions and said it would take a call on ₹976-crore initial public offering (IPO) after September.

Reports indicate that ESAF Small Finance Bank will launch its nearly ₹1,000 crore IPO in the first quarter of the calendar year 2021. The ₹976-crore IPO of ESAF Small Finance Bank will comprise a fresh issue worth ₹800 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) aggregating up to ₹176.2 crore.

The state-owned RailTel Corporation has filed a Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for an initial public offer of up to 8.66 crore equity shares. The company is likely to raise ₹700 crore through the IPO, a complete offer for sale by the Central government. The IPO is expected to hit the capital markets in mid-January 2021.

It has appointed ICICI Securities, IDBI Capital, SBI Capital Markets as the book running lead managers to the issue.

The food delivery startup recently closed its pre-IPO funding of $660 million and is now gearing up to hit the Indian capital markets. According to reports, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal, in an email to his employees, said that the company is looking to list publicly in the first half of 2021.

Although there aren’t many details available on its IPO, it will be a top contender to watch out for in 2021.

The Softbank-backed grocery startup Grofers, which had earlier planned to launch its IPO in 2022, revised its plans and revealed that it may hit the capital markets by December 2020. Well, that hasn’t happened yet. But it is now expected to launch it sometime early this year.

The startup, which competes with BigBasket, Flipkart Supermart, and JioMart, hasn’t revealed details about its IPO yet.

One of India’s most popular barbeque joints received the market regulator’s nod in July 2020. However, COVID delayed its plans. The company has plans to raise ₹1,000-1,200 crore through an initial public offering. It will be utilising the IPO proceeds to repay an outstanding loan of ₹205 crore, in part or full, and for general corporate purposes.

India’s largest two-wheeler helmet brand is likely to go for its ₹450 crore IPO in February 2021.

The Faridabad headquartered company has more than 26% market share in India and offers products to more than 40 countries. It has been planning to hit the capital markets since 2018, but they have not materialised yet.

Other IPOs in the pipeline include NSE, Suryoday Small Finance Bank, JSW Cements, Bajaj Energy, Lodha Developers, and many more.