Leading staffing and HR solution firm CIEL HR, part of the larger Ma Foi Group, will go public in next fiscal and raise Rs 1,000 crore from the equity market.
It is also expected to raise Rs 100 crore from private players, including PE funds, in next few weeks, ahead of the IPO.
K Pandiarajan, founder of Ma Foi HR Services told Moneycontrol in an interview that his firm is going to almost double the revenue in FY23 and hit the stock market at a valuation of at least Rs 2,000 crore.
“We will go public late in FY23 at a valuation of Rs 2,000 crore. We have now set a target to raise Rs 1,000 crore (from the market), but depending on the situation, it may change a bit,” Pandiarajan said in an interview with Moneycontrol.
Staffing and HR solution as a business is growing in India and at least two Indian staffing firms - Teamlease Services and Quess Corp - have previously got listed in the stock market.
Pandiarajan said as a precursor to going public, his firm is raising Rs 100 crore - “20% via compulsory convertible debentures (CCDs), and 80% from private equity players”. Soon, Ma Foi will make a formal announcement giving details of the fund raise, he said.
Pandiarajan, who was also a former cabinet minister in Tamil Nadu, said his firm has hired ICICI Bank as an investment advisor for this private equity transaction, and it will be closed in next few weeks.
Expansion mode:
Pandiarajan, who has been in the staffing and HR solution space for almost 30 years, said Ma Foi and all the constituent companies are on an expansion mode and looking to acquire staffing and HR solution firms.
“We've already made the term sheet…we are acquiring two staffing firms,” he said.
“It's actually been a specialist staffing company, which will happen within the next few days. The other, we hope to close in the first quarter of FY 23,” he said, adding that the first specialist staffing firm is Chennai based.
Once the acquisition is over, the company’s revenue will jump by almost 20 to 25 percent, he said, and asserted that looking at the growth happening at CIEL HR and the larger Ma Foi, his group will be a dividend paying firm soon.
Pandiarajan said for FY23 he has set a revenue target of nearly Rs.1170 crore, which is more than double the current revenue base.
Rajiv Krishnan, MD at Ma Foi strategic consultants and Ma Foi Education said the group is also expanding verticals like education, regulatory compliance other than recruitment and HR tech.
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