Hyundai picks JPMorgan, Citi to accelerate US$3 billion India IPO: sources

HYUNDAI Motor has appointed investment bankers JPMorgan and Citi to advise on its at least US$3 billion India initial public offering (IPO), accelerating listing plans in the world’s third-largest auto market, sources with direct knowledge said.

The company plans to file regulatory papers in India by May to June for approval, said two of the three sources, all of whom declined to be named as the talks are private.

JPMorgan, Citi and Hyundai’s Indian unit declined to comment.

In a statement, Hyundai said it had “no further update at this stage”, referring Reuters to its statement earlier this week that the India listing has not been decided, and that it would comment on the matter when the plan becomes finalised or within a month.

Hyundai, the second-biggest automaker in India with a 15 per cent market share, is in the initial stages of considering an IPO in India that would value its local operation at up to US$30 billion, Reuters reported this week. The IPO could be India’s largest.

Such fundraising by Hyundai would put the valuation of its Indian operation at more than half its market capitalisation of around US$47 billion in Seoul.

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Some domestic Indian investment banks are also likely to be appointed for the IPO in the coming months, the two sources added.

IPOs in India boomed in the second half of 2023, and bankers expect this to continue in 2024 amid hopes for political stability after the upcoming elections.

Hyundai is doubling down in the South Asian nation and the United States after scaling back its production in China after years of losses there, and selling its two Russian plants.

It entered India more than two decades ago and is the only foreign player to have become dominant, alongside market leader Maruti Suzuki. Companies such as Ford Motor and General Motors have folded their India businesses. REUTERS