Housing firm VBHC Value Homes plans IPO by 2019

City-based affordable housing firm VBHC Value Homes is planning an initial public offering ( IPO) by 2019. The company, which plans to raise upward of Rs 1,000 crore, intends to use the proceeds to expand operations across the country. It may also offer exits to some of its investors.

The company, co-founded by Jaithirth Rao and P S Jayakumar, is backed by a number of investors including Japanese real estate conglomerate Daiwa House Industry Co, Caspian Investment Advisors, The Carlyle Group, International Finance Corp, Tano Capital and HDFC Bank. The PE funds and small investors own over 60 per cent stake in the company valued at over Rs 800 crore.

VBHC, which sells homes in the Rs 16-40 lakh price bracket, had earlier planned to raise money through public market in 2017.

"We postponed the IPO due to policy changes like real estate regulatory bill, goods and services tax and demonetisation," VBHC chairman Jaithirth Rao said. However, he declined to comment on the exact size of the offering.

Ram Walase, CEO, said: "We will launch about one million sqft of projects across Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai over the next year. Some of our existing projects will also see their next phases opening up."