Big-time value unlocking is on the cards for ICICI Bank

Emaar MGF Land Ltd., the joint venture between Dubai’s Emaar Properties and India’s MGF Group, announced that it will launch an initial public offering (IPO) to raise up to US $1.5bn for investment in the country’s booming real estate sector.

The company said that it will sell 11.9% of its enlarged share capital in the IPO, and will use proceeds for land and development rights, development and construction costs, repayment of loans and general corporate purposes.

Emaar MF has received market regulator SEBI’s approval to launch the IPO. The issue is likely to hit the capital market in the first week of February, and the company is expected to be listed by February-end.

The company filed a draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with SEBI in September last year for selling a 10% stake (11.74 crore shares) in the company to the public through the IPO.

The global coordinators and book running lead managers to the issue are Enam Securities and DSP Merrill Lynch.

Citigroup Global Markets India, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, HSBC Securities, JPMorgan India and Goldman Sachs India Securities have been appointed as book lead managers for the issue.

Emaar MGF has a land bank of over 12,500 acres, which is spread over 22 cities in 16 states in India. It has commenced projects in eight cities in seven states in India.

The IPO will closely follow the US $3bn IPO planned by Reliance Power, which is set to be open from January 15 to 18 ahead of an early February listing. This is tipped to be India’s largest IPO ever.

Indian companies are expected to raise US $14.2bn through public offerings this year, according to Thomson Financial, topping the record US $8.26bn raised in 2007.