Paras Healthcare mobilises Rs 652.5 crore via anchor book, Rs 1,450-crore IPO to open on October 21

The IPO will open for public subscription on October 21 and close on October 23. The price band has been fixed at Rs 660–693 per share. The company plans to raise Rs 1,450 crore through the initial public offering (IPO), comprising a fresh issue of shares worth Rs 500 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of shares worth Rs 950 crore. Promoter Dharminder Kumar Nagar and investor Commelina, an affiliate of private equity firm Creador, will sell shares worth Rs 300 crore and Rs 650 crore, respectively, through the OFS.

Paras Healthcare, which operates a network of eight hospitals under the Paras brand, allotted 94.15 lakh equity shares to 21 institutional investors through the anchor book on Monday. "Of these, 55.55 lakh shares worth Rs 385 crore were allocated to nine domestic mutual funds, which participated through a total of 24 schemes," the company said in its filing. The domestic mutual funds that participated in the anchor book included SBI Mutual Fund, HDFC AMC, ICICI Prudential AMC, Kotak Mahindra AMC, WhiteOak Capital, Motilal Oswal AMC, Edelweiss, Baroda BNP Paribas Mutual Fund, and ITI Mutual Fund.

Insurance companies, including ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Edelweiss Life Insurance, and Canara HSBC Life Insurance, also participated in the anchor book, acquiring 6.49 lakh shares worth Rs 45 crore. Paras Healthcare provides tertiary and quaternary healthcare services through a network of eight hospitals with a total capacity of 2,211 beds across North India, Bihar, and Jharkhand. As part of its expansion plans, the company intends to add a 300-bed hospital in Gurugram and a 500-bed hospital in Ludhiana.

The two facilities are expected to become operational in the current and next financial years, respectively. According to the company's red herring prospectus (RHP), Paras Healthcare expects to increase its total bed capacity to 3,011 by March 2028. The company plans to utilise Rs 375 crore of the net proceeds from the fresh issue to repay a portion of its debt, while the remaining proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes. JM Financial, BofA Securities India, and Nuvama Wealth Management are acting as the merchant bankers to the Paras Healthcare IPO.