Tata AutoComp drops IPO as market eases

Tata AutoComp Systems Ltd, an Indian auto parts maker, shelved a planned Rs12 billion (Dh956 million) initial public offering, said two people familiar with the matter. The unit of India's Tata Group withdrew a sale document filed with regulators, the people said, asking not to be identified because the details are private. A stock market slump made it difficult for the company to meet targets stated in the document and revising those would have required a new filing, one of the people said. Tata AutoComp is the sixth company to withdraw or delay plans for an IPO in India this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A 19 per cent decline in the benchmark BSE India Sensitive Index this year and a 98 per cent drop in foreign institutions' equity investments have made it tougher for Indian companies to sell stock. Shvetal Diwanji, a spokesman for the company in Pune, didn't immediately respond to an e-mail and call to his mobile phone. Indian companies have raised Rs283 billion in share sales in 2011, less than half the amount of stock they sold in the same period last year, according to Bloomberg data. JM Financial Ltd, Tata Capital Markets Ltd. and JPMorgan Chase & Co's Indian unit were arranging the share sale, according to a sale document dated December 30. The capital markets regulator cleared the IPO on June 13, its website shows. Tata AutoComp aimed to raise as much as Rs12 billion by selling new and existing shares, two people with knowledge of the matter said in January. From / Gulf News