Micromax plans up to $500 million IPO

Micromax Informatics, India's second-largest smartphone maker, plans to raise as much as USD 500 million through a stock market listing in its financial year beginning in April, the Economic Times newspaper reported on Saturday.

Micromax, which entered the Indian handset market in 2008 with cheap large-screen phones, will sell a minority stake in its initial public offering of shares, the newspaper said, citing unnamed bankers and a company executive.

The company has shortlisted Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to manage the offering, the report said, adding that Micromax expects a valuation of 14 times its operating profit.

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Micromax did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. The company told the Economic Times it did not comment on market speculation.

The company, backed by private equity firms TA Associates and Sequoia Capital, had hired banks in 2010 for an IPO to raise as much as USD 150 million but scrapped the plan a year later, citing poor market sentiment.

Its main rivals in the world's fastest-growing smartphone market include Samsung Electronics, Motorola and China's Xiaomi.

In the September quarter India's smartphone market grew by 64 percent. Samsung dominated with a 25 percent market share, followed by Micromax at 20 percent, according to research agency Counterpoint Research.