Blackstone-backed Aadhar Housing Finance gets SEBI approval for ₹5,000 crore IPO

Aadhar Housing Finance Limited, which is an HFC focused on the low income housing segment in India, has received final observations from SEBI for their proposed IPO.

The company plans to raise around ₹5,000 crore through the public issue. It had submitted its draft papers in February this year.

Previously, in January 2021, Aadhar Housing submitted draft papers to Sebi, receiving approval from the regulator in May 2022 to raise slightly above ₹7,000 crore. However, it opted not to proceed with the outlined plans.

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The new issue plan includes a new equity offering totaling ₹1,000 crore alongside a ₹4,000 crore offer for sale. Within the offer for sale (OFS), promoter BCP Topco VII Pte will divest its stake.

BCP Topco, the promoter, and an affiliate of funds managed by Blackstone, currently possess 98.7% of the pre-offer issued, subscribed, and paid-up equity share capital. Leveraging the resources, relationships, and expertise of Blackstone, a renowned global investment firm, the company stands to benefit.

Aadhar Housing intends to allocate the net proceeds for meeting future capital needs related to onward lending and general corporate objectives.

AHFL is a retail-focused HFC focused on the low income housing segment, serving economically weaker and low-to-middle income customers, who require small ticket mortgage loans. The average ticket size of their loans was ₹0.9 million with an average loan-to-value of 57.6% and 58.1%, as of September 30, 2022 and September 30, 2023, respectively.

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The organization provides various mortgage-related loan products, encompassing residential property purchase and construction loans, home improvement and extension loans, as well as loans for commercial property construction and acquisition. With a robust presence, it operates through 471 branches and 91 sales offices.

ICICI Securities, Citigroup Global Markets, Kotak Mahindra Capital, Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India), and SBI Capital are serving as the book running lead managers for the issue.