Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co (SAM) advised ideaForge Technology’s INR5.67 billion (USD68.1 million) IPO on the National Stock Exchange of India and the BSE.
ideaForge Technology is India’s pioneer and leading manufacturer of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), with a 50% market share in fiscal 2022.
It will list more than 8.4 million shares on the BSE and the NSE.
“ideaForge was the first Indian drone manufacturing company to be listed on the main board,” said Sayantan Dutta, a partner at SAM. “As a result, the drafting of the business and risk factors sections of a drone manufacturing company was unique and interesting. Understanding the regulatory regime governing the UAV industry was also an interesting exercise.”
“However, the biggest challenge was drafting the utilisation of proceeds section which included funding the company’s working capital gap as the disclosure requirements in India around that are fairly detailed. Overall, it was a fantastic experience working with ideaForge, which was founded by three IIT-Mumbai alumnus, and the story behind the foundation of the company is extremely inspiring,” adds Dutta.
The IPO comprised 3,572,052 fresh shares worth INR2.4 billion and 4,869,712 shares worth INR3.27 billion offered for sale by promoters, individual and corporate shareholders.
ideaForge witnessed record-breaking IPO subscriptions with more than 106, which is the highest for a company since 2021.
Partners Prashant Gupta and Dutta led SAM’s capital markets team, with assistance from senior associate Romit Srivastava, and associates Debolina Mitra, Jheel Bhargava and Purva Mishra.
Partner Anirban Bhattacharya led the general corporate team, while partner Divi Dutta led the private clients practice.
Hogan Lovells Lee & Lee advised the book running lead managers, IIFL Securities and JM Financial on special purpose international law.
