Bengaluru: Infra.Market is moving towards the public markets through listed Shalimar Paints. The paint maker’s board has approved an investment in Hella Infra Market Ltd, the company behind Infra.Market, through a share swap. The two companies may eventually be combined.Under the proposed transaction, Shalimar will issue shares and compulsory convertible preference shares (CCPS) to shareholders of Infra.Market in exchange for their holdings. Simply put, Infra.Market investors will receive securities of listed Shalimar Paints instead of cash.The securities being issued as part of the non-cash transaction are valued at about Rs 10,440 crore. Shalimar has approved the issue of equity shares worth about Rs 3,545 crore and CCPS worth about Rs 6,895 crore, both at an issue price of Rs 85 apiece. The transaction is subject to shareholder and other regulatory approvals.The move provides Infra.Market a route to the listed market without a conventional IPO at this stage. Shalimar described the deal as paving the way for a “listed building materials platform”. Its board said the transaction would bring Infra.Market’s business to the public markets through Shalimar.Once the share swap is completed, Hella Infra Market may become an unlisted material subsidiary of Shalimar. The board has also discussed a possible “unification” of the two companies at a later stage. Any such combination will require further regulatory and shareholder approvals.The proposed allotment also provides a glimpse of Infra.Market’s investor base. Existing investors, including Nithin Kamath, Ashish Kacholia, Trifecta Venture Debt Fund and Alteria Capital funds, are among those proposed to receive Shalimar equity shares. Kamath is slated to receive about 2.3 crore shares, while Kacholia is set to receive about 1.65 crore shares.Infra.Market founders Aaditya Sharda and Souvik Sengupta are among the biggest recipients of the proposed CCPS issue. Each is slated to receive nearly 29.7 crore preference shares.Separately, Shalimar plans to raise up to Rs 1,000 crore from institutional investors through a qualified institutional placement (QIP). This allows a listed company to raise fresh capital from institutional investors. The company said the funds would provide growth capital to the enlarged business.
