India’s Lemon Tree Hotels plans for IPO

Delhi-based hotel chain Lemon Tree Hotels is planning an initial public offering (IPO) in the next 18 months.

It has not yet finalised the amount it intends to raise through IPO.

The company is supported by Dutch pension fund APG and global private equity fund Warburg Pincus, reported Livemint.

Lemon Tree chairman and managing director Patu Keswani was quoted as saying: "We will hire investment bankers in the next three months to prepare for our initial public offering (IPO) and it will also provide a partial exit to our existing private equity investor."

If the listing goes as intended, Lemon Tree Hotels will become the first hotel company to list on the stock exchange in the last eight years.

APG has invested $164.5m in the firm and owns a 15% stake, while Warburg Pincus has invested $31.4m for an undisclosed interest.

Lemon Tree was valued at approximately $598m after APG’s investment in 2014.

The firm has no plans to raise more capital from private equity funds before the IPO.

Lemon Tree operates hotels in three segments, including the Lemon Tree Premier, the Lemon Tree Hotels, and the economy Redfox.

The company owns 24 hotels with 3,000 rooms, and manages 300 to 400 rooms across five hotels.

In October 2015, Lemon Tree Hotels made plans to expand its hotel portfolio based on the growing demand of domestic travellers.

It is building nine more hotels that are expected to open in 2018.