Muthoot Finance, the leading lender of gold loans in the country is harboring plans to sell 14% stake through an initial public offering (IPO) so as to raise Rs 2000 crore, said two officials related to the issue. If the promoters become successful in raising money from the market at the stipulated price, then the valuation of the company is expected to touch Rs 14,000 crore. The past 3-4 months have witnessed firms like Matrix Partners, Baring India, Welcome Trust and two funds of Kotak Mahindra buying about 7% of stake at Muthoot worth Rs 255 crore. The cost of acquisition has been found to be highest at Rs 173.5 per share in the different tranches of buy out. "The numbers are only estimates as of now since a lot depends on market conditions at that point of time," commented one of the merchant bankers. The bankers to the issue are Kotak Mahindra Capital, ICICI Securities and HDFC Bank. The company posted net profit of Rs 227 crore for the last fiscal.
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