Samhi Hotels Re-Files IPO Papers With Sebi; Looks To Raise Rs 1,000 Crore Via Fresh Issue

Samhi Hotels Ltd has re-filed preliminary papers with capital markets regulator Sebi to raise funds through an initial public offering (IPO). The IPO comprises fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 1,000 crore and an offer-for-sale (OFS) of 90 lakh equity shares by existing shareholders, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP). The OFS consists of sale of 42.36 lakh equity shares by Blue Chandra Pte Ltd, up to 24.78 lakh equity shares by Goldman Sachs Investments Holdings (Asia) Limited, up to 15.47 lakh equity shares by GTI Capital Alpha Pvt Ltd, and up to 7.39 lakh equity shares by International Finance Corporation.

It is a partial exit by the existing shareholders to meet the listing regulations. JM Financial Ltd and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd are the book-running lead managers for the issue, and KFin Technologies Ltd is the registrar. Earlier, the company had filed its IPO papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in September 2019 and had obtained the markets regulator approval in November 2019, to float the initial share-sale but the company did not go ahead with the launch.

The Gurugram-based company may consider a private placement of equity shares aggregating up to Rs 200 crore in pre-IPO placement. If such placement is completed, the fresh issue size will be reduced. The company will utilize net proceeds of the fresh issue to the tune of Rs 750 crore towards payment of debt and for general corporate purposes. Samhi has a portfolio of 3,839 keys spread across 25 operating hotels in 12 of India's major urban consumer hubs, including Bangalore, Hyderabad, National Capital Region (NCR), Pune, Chennai, and Ahmedabad as of February 28, 2023.

Last week, Samhi entered into a binding share subscription and purchase agreement with Asiya Capital and ACIC SPVs to acquire 962 keys across six operating hotels and land to build a 350-key hotel in MIDC, Navi Mumbai. With the acquisition, Samhi will get access to new cities like Jaipur and will improve its inventory and market share in Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, and Ahmedabad. In addition, it plans to add two additional hotels and 617 keys in existing cities as well as two new cities, Kolkata and Navi Mumbai, increasing its presence to 14 key urban consumption centers.

As of February 2023, it is the largest owner of the Fairfield by Marriott and Holiday Inn Express brands in India. It operates under long-term management contracts with global hotel operators like Marriott, Hyatt, and IHG. For the financial year ended March 2022, the company reported an increase of 90 per cent in revenue to Rs 322.74 crore, as against Rs 169.58 crore in the previous fiscal.

(PTI)