Pre-IPO round: Crystal Crop Protection raises Rs 84.3 crore from 20 investors; WhiteOak invests Rs 60 crore

Crystal Crop Protection, promoted by Nand Kishore Aggarwal, has reduced the size of its fresh issue to Rs 439.3 crore from Rs 600 crore. It has also cut the offer-for-sale (OFS) component to 37.02 lakh equity shares from the 74.05 lakh shares proposed when it filed its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The capital markets regulator cleared the draft document in May 2026.

Based on the selling price of Rs 272.07 per share, the upcoming IPO could be valued at around Rs 456 crore. WhiteOak Capital Asset Management, founded by Prashant Khemka, emerged as the largest investor in the crop protection company, purchasing a total of 22.05 lakh shares worth Rs 60 crore through three schemes: WhiteOak Capital Equity Fund, WhiteOak Capital Equity Fund II, and WhiteOak Capital India Opportunities Fund.

This was disclosed in a notice to investors dated October 28. Abhishek Bansal, Barkha Singhal, Darshan Goel, Gaurav Mittal, Parikshit Mundhra, Pranay Jain, Puneet Kumar Bansal, and Varun Kabra, among others, also participated in the pre-IPO placement. The amount raised in the pre-IPO round was slightly lower than the target of Rs 87.8 crore set when the IPO size was revised on October 19. As the pre-IPO placement forms part of the fresh issue, Crystal Crop Protection said in a notice to investors that the fresh issue size has been reduced to Rs 355.003 crore from Rs 439.3 crore.

The company plans to use Rs 335 crore of the net proceeds from the fresh issue to repay debt. The remaining proceeds will be used to fund inorganic growth through acquisitions yet to be identified and for general corporate purposes. IIFL Capital Services, DAM Capital Advisors, and Motilal Oswal Investment Advisors are the merchant bankers managing the Crystal Crop Protection IPO.