SEBI Approves Wellness Forever IPO

Adar Poonawalla-backed retail pharmacy chain Wellness Forever has received approval from markets regulator Sebi to raise Rs 1,600 crore through an initial public offering (IPO). The IPO consists of a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating to Rs 400 crore and an offer for sale up to 16,044,709 equity shares, as per the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP). As part of OFS, up to 7,20,000 equity shares will be offloaded by Ashraf Mohammed Biran, up to 720,000 equity shares by Gulshan Haresh Bhahtiani, up to 120,000 equity shares by Mohan Ganpat Chavan, and up to 14,484,709 equity shares by other existing shareholders. Recently, the pharmacy chain announced the nomination of three new independent directors — Avani Davda, Ranjit Shahani, and Kewal Handa — to its board of directors, with broad experience in banking, healthcare, and retail. SII, which currently owns a 13.2 percent stake in the business, is selling up to 3.55 million shares in the IPO. Poonawalla is also selling up to 1.52 million shares through his entity Rising Sun Holdings. After the issue, SII will hold only 40,000 shares in Wellness Forever. The proceeds from the issue will be used for capital expenditure, setting up new stores, repayment of the debt, and funding working capital.