Micromax plans $500 million IPO: report

Micromax Informatics, one of India's top mobile phone makers, plans to raise up to $500 million (around Rs3,170 crore) from the domestic market by selling a minority stake in the coming financial year, The Economic Times reported quoting merchant bankers.

The company is reported to have shortlisted Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to manage an initial public offer, the report said, adding that Micromax expects a valuation of 14 times its operating profit

Micromax, which entered the Indian handset market in 2008 with cheap large-screen phones, will only be selling a minority stake in its IPO, the report said.

Micromax, which is backed by funds from private equity firms TA Associates and Sequoia Capital, had in 2010 hired merchant banks for an IPO to raise as much as $150 million but scrapped the plan a year later, citing poor market sentiment.

The new comer is pitted against established rivals in the world's fastest-growing Smartphone market include Samsung Electronics, Motorola and China's Xiaomi.

India's smart phone market grew 64 per cent in the quarter ended 30 September 2014. Samsung dominated with a 25 per cent market share, followed by Micromax at 20 per cent, according to research agency Counterpoint Research.