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Sources tell NDTV that HCC chairman Ajit Gulabchand has appointed Kotak and ICICI Securities to manage the Lavasa initial public offering, which will be about Rs 2000 crore.

Lavasa, India’s first planned hill city, is spread over 20000 acres and is about 60 kilometers from Pune.

Sources say the Lavasa IPO, at 15-20 per cent of total valuation is slated to hit the market by 2010-end and the DRHP with SEBI is likely to be filed in the next two months.

HCC holds 65 per cent in Lavasa though its subsidiary HCC Real Estate. Other big investors in the project are Avantha Group and Venkateshwara Hatcheries.

Lavasa is completing the first phase and people will start occupying the township this year itself. This would be a fillip for HCC which has been languishing due to low margins.

Shareholders of the construction company could see some value unlocking if investors take well to the IPO, one of many real estate IPOs planned in the coming year.

“There will be value unlocking for the HCC shareholders when the IPO hits the market,” said Upendra Kulkarni, director and CEO of Fortress Fin Services.

The first phase of Lavasa has been successful and the work has started on the second phase, which spells good things for HCC. However, Lavasa is no less than a 15 year project, for total value to come in.

[Story Source]

This post was submitted by Anil Kumar Chaudhary.