Don't dress it up for IPOs, the markets will get to know: Catamaran President's advice to companies

Market veterans congregated at the Global Wealth Summit in Mumbai to speak on the theme 'Inside India's Family Offices : The New Playbook for Private Wealth.'

• Padaki warns firms not to inflate strength before IPOs
• Catamaran focuses on long-term investment and asset allocation
• Market experts see high valuations and possible corrections ahead

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Deepak Padaki, president of private investment firm Catamaran, warned companies not to artificially make their firms look stonger when preparing for an initial public offering because the financial markets will eventually uncover the truth.

Speaking at the second edition of Moneycontrol's Global Wealth Summit 2026 in Mumbai on Saturday, Padaki said, "It comes down to honing your skill of allocating into right assets and making an opportunity out of it. My advise for investors and companies is don't dress it up for IPOs, the markets will get to know."

Market veterans congregated at the Summit to speak on the theme 'Inside India's Family Offices : The New Playbook for Private Wealth.'

Talking about Catamaran's long-term investment strategy, Padaki said,  “We are Test match players, not T20 players. We are here for the long term, so we will wait out the volatility. If you have conviction in what you bought, whether in public markets or private markets, then just wait it out. The second really comes down to asset allocation — do you have enough liquidity so that when the market drops, you can use it as an opportunity to enter because you’re pitching long-term."

Padaki also said his firm is also learning about companies funded and backed by venture capital or private equity investors before reaching the public market. "Companies coming from VCs/PEs becoming public is a relatively new concept. We are also learning," he said.

Talking about the stages before and after launching an IPO, the Catamaran President said, "In the early stage, we are not seeing a big-run up in valuations like you are seeing in Bay area. In the late stage, if there are good-quality companies, there is money flowing towards them."

Founder and managing Partner of Sharrp Ventures Rishabh Mariwala said there have been no price corrections in the company's portfolio but warned about re-evaluations in the public markets over the next three to six months."

“In public markets, valuations are still definitely much higher, and there is a lot of froth across small-caps, mid-caps and large-caps as well. If you look at a 20-year or even a 10-year mean, it’s still about one or two standard deviations, so the correction has not yet happened," said Mariwala.

“In private markets as well, founders often look at very high multiples — sometimes even 6x. But the challenge is that once you acquire a company at those valuations, you actually have to build the business up to justify them. The pressure is then on the company to perform and grow into those valuations," he said.

Chandra Sekhar Garisa Reddy , MD & CEO of Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL), said given the recent volatility due to geopolitical uncertainties, the focus is on supporting our portfolio companies.

"Companies are more aware now what they have to deliver in the first two to three years after listing (an IPO). Given the trajectory of what other companies have gone through, pre-IPO companies are learning from that. Good companies will continue to do good, as cliche as it may sound," said Reddy.

Venkat Subramanian R, Chief Information Officer at USK Capital, said the company's approach is to be business owners. "Given the peculiar nature of family offices, we have a large exposure to financial services. We want to diversify beyond financial services now. The mid and small cap have become very attractive in specific sectors such as chemicals and engineering. There are pockets of public markets, which have become very attractive."