Homegrown private equity firm Gaja Capital gets SEBI nod for IPO

Gaja Capital has a number of large and upcoming domestic firms in its portfolio

Private equity firm Gaja Capital has received clearance from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its initial public offering, for which the draft papers were filed through the confidential route.

This paves the way for India’s first IPO by a homegrown private equity firm.

In June, the firm raised Rs 125 crore in a pre-IPO placement from investors including HDFC Life, SBI Life, Akash Bhanshali and Jagdish Master, valuing the company at around Rs 1,625 crore.

Founded in 2004, Gaja Capital is among India’s established mid-market private equity investors, with past and current portfolio companies such as Fractal Analytics, People Home Finance, RBL Bank, TeamLease, Lighthouse Learning, Avendus, Educational Initiatives, LeadSquared and Signzy.

Earlier this year, Gaja Capital appointed former SEBI chairman U.K. Sinha as its non-executive chairman. Other non-executive board members include Shailesh Haribhakti, Prithvi Haldea, Manish Sabharwal, Arindam Bhattacharya and Shital Mehra.

The firm’s executive board comprises founders Gopal Jain, Ranjit Shah and Imran Jafar.

The proposed listing would mark a notable development for India’s alternative investment landscape, reflecting the growing scale and maturity of the domestic private equity industry

JM Financial and IIFL Securities are advising Gaja on its proposed IPO.