Indian renewable energy independent power producer (IPP) ACME Solar Holdings Limited has decided to raise capital to the tune of INR 30 billion ($359 million) via the initial public offering (IPO) route.
The company recently filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). It aims to use INR 15 billion ($180 million) of the proceeds to repay/prepay certain outstanding borrowings availed by its subsidiaries.
It plans to raise INR 20 billion through a fresh share issue, along with ACME Cleantech Solutions Private Limited selling its equity shares for an additional INR 10 billion ($120 million). All of these shares have a face value of INR 2 each.
The management says it may consider a pre-IPO placement of specified securities of up to INR 4 billion ($48 million). If executed, it will bring down the fresh issue size.
Operating in the space of solar PV, wind, hybrid, and firm and dispatchable renewable energy (FDRE), ACME's total operational capacity as of July 2, 2024, when it filed the DRHP, was 1.32 GW with another 2.22 GW under-construction contracted capacity and 1.81 GW of under-construction awarded capacity. It operates as a developer, EPC, and O&M player, selling electricity generated to various offtakers.
Of late, several Indian companies operating in the solar PV technology space are opting to raise capital through the IPO route, thanks to the government's Make in India initiative. It is mostly those in manufacturing that are opting for this path, including Waaree Energies, Premier Energies Limited, Alpex Solar Limited, among others, but solar developers like Rays Power Infra are interested too.
Very recently, solar panel and inverter distributor GP Eco Solutions filed a DRHP. It plans to use some of the proceeds to build a solar inverter assembling fab (see India Solar PV News Snippets).