By Rama Venkat
BENGALURU (Reuters) -India’s Tata Technologies set a price band of 475-500 rupees per share for its initial public offering, per a term sheet and newspaper ad on Thursday, valuing the first Tata Group company to go public in nearly two decades at roughly $2.5 billion.
India has had a record 194 IPOs so far this year, during which the stock market has hit record highs as the country’s economic growth prospects and a vast consumer base make it an attractive prospect for companies and investors.
Tata Technologies, which provides engineering and technology services to auto, aero and heavy machinery makers, will be worth 202.83 billion rupees at the upper end of the price band, less than most of its peers.
However, it is fairly valued on a price-to-earnings (PE) basis, said analysts.
“They seem to have got the math right with respect to the IPO price band,” said Arun Kejriwal, founder of Kejriwal Research and Investment Services.
Kejriwal estimates Tata Technologies’ PE is 30-32, while its peers such as fellow Tata group firm Tata Elxsi, KPIT Technologies and L&T Technology Services have a PE of 38 to 100.
Tata Technologies was in talks with Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Blackrock and some U.S. hedge funds to invest in its IPO at a $2.5 billion valuation, Reuters reported last week.
Tata Motors and other shareholders will sell up to 60.9 million shares in the IPO, which will be open for bids from Nov. 21-24. The company will make its trading debut on Nov. 30.
The last Tata group company to go public was Tata Consultancy Services in 2004. It is now the country’s top IT services firm.
Tata Technologies’s consolidated profit jumped about 36% to 3.52 billion rupees in the half-year ended Sept. 30, while its revenue rose nearly 34%.
BofA Securities India and JM Financial are the lead managers for the IPO. ($1 = 83.2330 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru and Scott Murdoch in Sydney; Editing by Sohini Goswami and Savio D’Souza)
