Lenskart, Wakefit Get Sebi Nod for IPOs

New Delhi, Oct 6 (PTI) Eyewear retailer Lenskart Solutions Ltd, home and furnishings company Wakefit Innovations Ltd and four other companies have secured Sebi's approval to raise funds through initial public offerings (IPOs), an update with the market regulator showed on Monday.

Tenneco Clean Air India, Waterways Leisure Tourism, the operator of Cordelia Cruises; Shree Ram Twistex and Lamtuf are among the companies that have received regulatory approval.

The six companies, which filed their preliminary IPO papers with Sebi between June and July, obtained their observations between September 26 and October 3, the update showed.

In regulatory terms, Sebi's observations are equivalent to clearance for launching a public issue.

Lenskart Solutions is looking to raise Rs 2,150 crore through the fresh issuance of equity shares. Promoters and investors would also offload 13.22 crore equity shares, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP).

As a part of the OFS, promoters Peyush Bansal, Neha Bansal, Amit Chaudhary and Sumeet Kapahi; and investors SVF II Lightbulb (Cayman) Ltd, Schroders Capital Private Equity Asia Mauritius Ltd, PI Opportunities Fund - II, Macritchie Investments Pte. Ltd, Kedaara Capital Fund II LLP, and Alpha Wave Ventures LP, would offload shares.

Lenskart proposes to utilise the proceeds from the IPO for various strategic initiatives, including capital expenditure for setting up new Company-operated Company-owned (CoCo) stores in India; payments related to lease, rent, and license agreements for these CoCo stores; investments in technology and cloud infrastructure; brand marketing and business promotion to enhance brand awareness; potential unidentified inorganic acquisitions; and general corporate purposes.

The proposed IPO of the Bengaluru-based Wakefit Innovations is a combination of a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to Rs 468.2 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of 5.84 crore equity shares by the selling shareholders.

As part of the OFS, the promoters - Ankit Garg and Chaitanya Ramalingegowda and other selling shareholders - Nitika Goel, Peak XV Partners Investments VI, Redwood Trust, Verlinvest S.A., SAI Global India Fund I LLP, Investcorp Growth Equity Fund, Investcorp Growth Opportunity Fund and Paramark KB Fund I will be offloading shares.

Wakefit proposes to utilise the proceeds from the fresh issue, worth Rs. 82 crore, for setting up 117 new COCO - Regular Stores and one COCO - Jumbo Store; Rs 15.4 crore towards purchase of new equipment and machinery; Rs 145 crore for expenditure for lease and sub-lease rent and license fee payments for existing stores.

Additionally, Rs 108.4 crore will be used towards marketing and advertisement expenses for enhancing the awareness and visibility of the brand and the remaining amount will be used for general corporate purposes.