PepsiCo franchisee Varun Beverages plans to raise over Rs 1k cr, files for IPO

New Delhi: Varun Beverages, franchisee for soft drinks maker PepsiCo, today filed preliminary papers with Sebi for an IPO to raise over Rs 1,000 crore. The IPO entails sale of up to 2.5 crore shares, including fresh issue of 1.5 crore shares and offloading of stake by promoters. [caption id=“attachment_2648074” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Ibnlive[/caption] The company has filed the draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), it said in a release. Sources said Varun Beverages expects to raise more than Rs 1,000 crore through the initial public offer. Apart from fresh issue of 1.5 crore equity shares, there would be offer for sale of up to 5,000,000 shares each by Varun Jaipuria and Ravi Kant Jaipuria & Sons (HUF), the release said. A portion of shares in the IPO would be reserved for eligible employees not exceeding five per cent of the post offer paid up equity share capital. Varun Beverages, flagship company of the R K Jaipuria Group, is a leading franchisee of carbonated soft drinks and non-carbonated beverages sold under trademarks owned by PepsiCo. It produces and distributes a wide range of products including Pepsi, D7UP, Evervess Soda, Tropicana Slice and packaged drinking water under the brand Aquafina. The global coordinators and book running lead managers to the Varun Beverages offer are Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, Axis Capital and CLSA India Pvt Ltd. The book running lead manager is YES Securities (India) Ltd. The company has also been granted the franchise for Ole brand of PepsiCo products in Sri Lanka, as per its website. As many as 11 companies have hit the market with their IPOs, including that of second largest CNG retailer Mahanagar Gas which opened on Tuesday.