Plans for the first stock sale of six companies are yet to be approved after a draft was submitted nearly a year ago, according to the stock market regulator.

Oravel Stays, the parent company of Lava International, BVG India and Oyo, submitted draft documents about a year ago, while Droom Technology submitted documents 11 months ago. Snapdeal and Protean eGov Technologies filed their application with Sebi 10 months ago. Typically, SEBI approves draft documents for an IPO within two or three months.

For Lava International and BVG India, SEBI said in its weekly newsletter that it had consulted other regulators or agencies. The regulator said it was awaiting further clarification from its lead managers for other companies.
SEBI’s website neither discloses what additional information has been sought nor identifies a lead manager.

According to the Prime Database, 46 companies proposing to sell shares worth a total of Rs 67,000 crore are awaiting SEBI approval, while 67 companies planning to sell shares worth Rs 1 lakh crore have been approved and are waiting for market conditions to improve before launching their first public offering.

In 2021, 63 companies sold a record Rs 1.2 lakh crore shares through IPOs. Oravel Stays, the parent company of Japan’s SoftBank-backed hotel aggregator Oyo, filed documents in October 2021 to sell Rs 7,000 crore of shares in a new offering and raise Rs 1,430 crore through a sale offer from existing shareholders, including SoftBank Group.
The book-runners for the offer are Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, JP Morgan India, Citigroup Global Markets India, ICICI Securities, Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India), JM Financial and Deutsche Equities India.

According to an Oyo spokesman, the delay in obtaining SEBI approval was due to the company’s attempt to update its draft prospectus after the financial metrics improved significantly after the pandemic subsided.

Snapdeal, an e-commerce company founded by Kunal Bahl and childhood friend Rohit Bansal, was filed in December 2021. The company plans to raise Rs 1,250 crore by selling new shares through an IPO when investors such as SoftBank and Sequoia Capital sell some shares. The lead managers are Axis Capital, BofA Securities India, CLSA India and JM Financial.

Automotive e-commerce platform Droom Technology submitted draft documents to regulators in November 2021. Droom Technology plans to raise Rs 2,000 crore through new products and Rs 1,000 crore through an offer for sale (OFS).

Promoters Sandeep Aggarwal and Droom Pte hold 100% of the company. Droom competes with startups such as CarDekho, Cars24, Spinny and CarTrade. Its lead managers include ICICI Securities, Axis Capital, Edelweiss Financial Services, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) and Nomura Financial Advisory.

Smartphone maker Lava International submitted a draft document in September 2021. Its IPO included a fresh issue of Rs 500 crore and a whopping 43.73 million OFS shares from existing investors. Axis Capital, BOB Capital, DAM Capital and SBI Capital Markets are all commercial bankers.

BVG India, backed by 3i Group, which provides management services, submitted a draft document in October 2021. Its IPO included a fresh issue of Rs 200 crore and an offer to sell up to 7.2 million shares. ICICI Securities, JM Financial and HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) are the commercial bankers for the offering.

Protean eGov Technologies submitted a draft document in December 2021. The company, which issues Permanent Account Number (PAN) cards and helps government agencies with e-government projects, plans to sell 12.08 million shares by its existing promoters and shareholders.

According to news reports, the share sale is worth Rs 3,000 crore. ICICI Securities, Equirus Capital, IIFL Securities, Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities India are the book-runners for the offering.