- The IPO comprises a fresh issue of equity shares worth INR 200 Cr and an OFS of up to 56,252,654 shares worth INR 800 Cr
IndiGlobal Bureau
Healthvista India, the parent company of the healthtech startup Portea Medical, received the green signal from Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its initial public offering (IPO), per a SEBI update last week.
Portea filed its draft papers with the market regulator in July 2022, along with an addendum to its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) on March 10, 2023.
Healthvista India plans to use the incoming liquidity towards working capital requirements of its subsidiary, Medybiz Pharma, along with repayment of its debt, purchase of medical equipment, inorganic growth initiatives, marketing and general corporate purposes.
Founded in 2013 by Krishnan Ganesh and his wife Meena, Portea offers healthcare services which include maternal care, physiotherapy, nursing, lab tests, counselling and critical care, among others.
Last week, Portea reclassified the founders as promoters after SEBI intervened. Per the company’s original DRHP, the healthtech startup said it did not have an identifiable promotor, something which was objected to by SEBI.
The market regulator’s move came as a continuation of its bid to ask companies to legally make founders with more than 10% stake in the company promoters.
A promoter is required to make several disclosures during the IPO and after listing, including issues of capital and disclosure requirements, besides being subject to substantial acquisitions of shares and takeover regulations, prohibition of insider trading regulations and listing obligations.
This can potentially be another deterrent in startup IPOs at a time when venture funding has reduced significantly and an IPO might be one of the few options that a startup may have to raise funds.
Portea is currently operational in 16 cities across India and claims to have served more than 500K patients and worked with more than 70 hospital partners with 3.4 Mn patients visiting its centres.
In FY22, the healthtech startup posted a net standalone loss of INR 53.82 Cr, as against a revenue of INR 96.37 Cr from operations during the financial year, per Tofler data.