Gaja Capital has filed a confidential draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) for an initial public offer (IPO) and is set to become the first Indian private equity firm to go public.
The company, which converted from private to public limited changing its name to Gaja Alternative Asset Management in January this year, had raised ₹125 crore in pre-IPO fund-raising round earlier this month, at a valuation of ₹1,625 crore, it said in a release.
Founded in 2004 by Gopal Jain, Ranjit Shah and Imran Jafar, Gaja Capital provides growth capital to companies spanning sectors, including the education, consumer and financial services sectors.
Some of its investments include Teamlease, Lighthouse Learning, RBL Bank, John Distilleries, Xpressbees, Ei, Leadsquared and Signzy
The fresh issue proceeds are intended to provide the fund managers’ capital to seed new funds and extend distribution capabilities in India and abroad. It will be used to expand into new fund management strategies. The IPO will help the company get listing benefits and gain enhanced visibility for its brand, it said.
While the PE firm did not specify how much it planned to raise, media reports have suggested something in the region of ₹500-600 crore.
Its board is chaired by U.K. Sinha (Non-Executive Chairman), with non-executive board members, including Shailesh Haribhakti, Prithvi Haldea, Manish Sabharwal, Arindam Bhattacharya and Shital Mehra.