MUMBAI: Micromax Informatics, India’s second-largest smartphone maker, plans to raise as much as $500m through a stock market listing in its financial year beginning in April, the Economic Times newspaper reported yesterday.
Micromax, which entered the Indian handset market in 2008 with cheap large-screen phones, will sell a minority stake in its initial public offering of shares, the newspaper said, citing unnamed bankers and a company executive.
The company has shortlisted Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to manage the offering, the report said, adding that Micromax expects a valuation of 14 times its operating profit.
Micromax did not immediately respond to the request for comment. The company told the paper it did not comment on market speculation.
The company, backed by private equity firms TA Associates and Sequoia Capital, had hired banks in 2010 for an IPO to raise as much as $150m but scrapped the plan a year later, citing poor market sentiment.
Its main rivals in the world’s fastest-growing smartphone market include Samsung Electronics, Motorola and China’s Xiaomi.
Reuters
