Ashok Soota, a pioneer of India’s Information Technology Services industry, has headed three outsourcing companies. Recently he took Happiest Mind Technologies Ltd. public.
His recent start-up was over subscribed 151 times which is highest of this decade as his IPO got bids for 3.51 billion shares versus the 23.3 million on offer, ranking it among India’s most successful first-time share sales.
With this, he has debuted on the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 at the 282nd rank with a wealth of ₹3,700 crores.
Soota, 77, holds a bachelors’ degree in electrical engineering from the University of Roorkee (now called Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee), and a Masters’ degree in Business Management from the Asian Institute of Management, Philippines.
HMT is among the top 10 most subscribed IPOs in around three years. Earlier, Dmart (104 times), CDSL (170 times), Salasar Techno (277 times), Captivate Infra (183 times) and Aston Paper (243 times) were the most subscribed IPOs of 2017. In 2018, the highest subscribed IPOs included Apollo Micro Systems (248 times) and Amber Enterprises (165 times). IRCTC (112 times) and Ujjivan Small Finance (165 times) were the most subscribed IPOs in 2019.
₹165 to ₹166 per equity share is the offered price band. The offer comprises fresh issuance of shares aggregating up to ₹110 crores and an offer for sale of up to 3.56 crore equity shares. On the upper end of the price band, the initial public offering (IPO) will fetch ₹702 crores. The company, promoted by Ashok Soota, has raised ₹316 crores from anchor investors.
Reason behind making HMT Public
It proposes to utilise the proceeds from the IPO for meeting long-term working capital needs and general corporate purposes. Mr Soota founded the Bengaluru-based startup in 2011. The venture followed an acrimonious parting with the co-founders at his previous startup Mindtree Ltd., which he had taken public in March 2007. That IPO was oversubscribed more than 100 times.
Happiest Minds’ expansion rate has a potential to reach at 20% which is almost double the industry growth rate. Digital services provides 97% of the companies revenue. This is higher than its local peers who stay at 30%-50% according to a statement by Motilal Oswal Securities Ltd.
Here’s how you can check Happiest Minds IPO allotment status:
Those who have subscribed to the IPO can check the allotment status on the BSE website. Here’s how to Visit the BSE website:
- select ‘Equity’ and then click ‘Happiest Minds’ from the dropdown.
- Enter application number and PAN (Permanent Account Number).
- Click on search to view the status details Applicants.
You can also visit the Registrar website (Linkintime, Karvy) to check the IPO allotment status During FY18-20 revenues grew at a cagr of over 20%. The company reported a loss in FY18, however, the adjusted profits have improved to Rs 83cr in FY20 and Rs 50 cr in April-June quarter itself. The IPO is priced at a PE multiple of 12x on FY21 earnings (after annualising Q1 earnings) as per brokerages.
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