ECOS (India) Mobility & Hospitality IPO opens Aug 28; price band fixed at ₹318-₹334 apiece

ECOS (India) Mobility & Hospitality Ltd will launch its initial public offering (IPO) on August 28, 2024. The total offer size -- of face value ₹ 2 each -- comprises an offer for sale of up to 1.8 crore equity shares.

The company will open the issue for anchor investors on August 27, 2024. The bid offer for retail investors will open on August 28 and close on Friday, August 30, 2024. The price band of the offer is fixed at ₹318 to ₹334 per equity share, and bids can be made for a minimum of 44 shares and in multiples thereafter.

The OFS comprises up to 99 lakh shares by Rajesh Loomba, chairman and MD, Ecos and 81 lakh shares by Aditya Loomba, joint MD. Equirus Capital Private Limited and IIFL Securities Limited are the book-running lead managers to the offer.

The company may allocate up to 60% of the QIB portion to anchor investors on a discretionary basis, of which one-third will be reserved for domestic mutual funds only. If the anchor investor portion is not subscribed fully, the balance will be added to the QIB. 5% net QIB portion will be for mutual funds, and the remainder to all QIB bidders.

Not less than 15% will be for non-institutional investors, of which one-third will be for those with an application size of over ₹2,00,000 and up to ₹10,00000. The company operates a fleet of over 13,000 economies to luxury cars, mini vans and luxury coaches. It also provides speciality vehicles such as luggage vans, limousines, vintage cars and vehicles for accessible transportation for people with disabilities.

As of March 2024, its fleet included 750 owned vehicles and 12,166 vehicles operated via vendors. "Asset-light business model and clear business focus are some of the key factors driving our leading returns as against some of the peers who have a broader diversified business proposition," says the company's RHP.

Its has a presence in 109 cities in India. As of March 31, 2024, fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2022, its revenue from operations was ₹554.4 crore, ₹422.6 crore and ₹147.3 crore, respectively. Profit after tax for the same period was ₹62.5 crore, ₹43.5 crore, and ₹9.8 crore, respectively.

India has emerged as the hottest market for initial public offerings (IPOs). In the first half of the calendar year 2024 (CY24), 153 IPOs (38 main board & 115 small and medium enterprises or SMEs) raised ₹34,923 crore, 3.5 times the ₹9,886 crore mobilised by 82 IPOs (10 main board and 72 SME) in the first half of last year.