Eris Lifesciences plans to launch Rs 2,000 crore IPO in June

Mumbai: Ahmedabad-based pharmaceuticals company Eris Lifesciences Pvt. Ltd plans to launch a Rs2,000 crore initial public offering (IPO) this month, according to two people aware of the development.

“The company and the bankers have been busy with international investor roadshows over the last couple of months. They are in the process of winding up the roadshows, post which the company will finalize the dates for the launch of the IPO and the pricing of the offer. The plan is to launch the IPO before end of June,” said one of the people cited above, requesting anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Eris, which filed its share sale prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India in February, received the regulator’s go-ahead in May. Axis Capital, Citibank and Credit Suisse are the bankers to the issue.

Private equity firm ChrysCapital, which holds a 16.25% stake in the company, will sell all of its 22.34 million shares, while founder Amit Bakshi, who holds 39.97%, will sell 0.5%. Other investors selling their shares will include Rakesh Shah, Rajendra Patel, Kausal Shah and Inderjeet Negi.

Spokespersons for Citi and Credit Suisse declined to comment, while an email sent to Axis Capital on Monday went unanswered.

Emails sent on Monday to Bakshi, who is also managing director of Eris Lifesciences, and ChrysCapital’s partner Sanjay Kukreja went unanswered.

ChrysCapital invested about Rs160 crore in Eris in 2011 for a 16% stake.

Founded in 2007 by sales professional-turned-entrepreneur Bakshi, Eris Lifesciences makes and sells branded generics in select therapeutic areas and focuses on developing products linked to lifestyle-related disorders.

Public market investors have in the recent past shown strong interest in subscribing to initial public offerings by pharma and healthcare companies.

In December, Laurus Labs Ltd’s Rs1,330 crore IPO was subscribed 4.5 times.

In 2015, initial public offerings of Alkem Laboratories Ltd and Syngene International Ltd were subscribed 44.29 times and 32 times respectively.

Investors have also snapped up shares of healthcare services firms such as Dr Lal Pathlabs Ltd, Narayana Hrudayalaya Ltd and Thyrocare Ltd, with their initial public offerings being seeing subscription rates of 33, eight and 74 times, respectively.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.