Popular Vehicles' IPO set to propel Kochi's Kuttukaran family into billionaires' club

As per the back of the envelope calculation by TNIE, the Kottukaran family will be worth around Rs 3,000 crore based on the expected price of the Popular Vehicles' shares during IPO.
John (L) and Francis K Paul (R) are sons of Popular Vehicles founder K P Paul while Naveen Philip (C) is their nephew. They own 2.7511 cr shares each constituting a total 65.79% stake in the firm
John (L) and Francis K Paul (R) are sons of Popular Vehicles founder K P Paul while Naveen Philip (C) is their nephew. They own 2.7511 cr shares each constituting a total 65.79% stake in the firm

KOCHI: Kochi-based Kuttukaran family is set to enter the billionaire club after Popular Vehicles and Services Ltd., the car-dealer-cum-services firm founded by the family, hits the market with an Rs 800 crore Initial Public Offering (IPO) soon.

As per the back of the envelope calculation by The New Indian Express, the Kuttukaran family will be worth around Rs 3,000 crore based on the expected price of the Popular Vehicles' shares during IPO.

As per the filings by Popular Vehicles and Services, the three promoters John K Paul, Francis K Paul and Naveen Philip own 2.7511 crore shares each constituting a total of 8.253 crore shares or 65.79% stake in the car dealer firm. John and Francis are sons of Popular Vehicles founder K P Paul while Naveen is their nephew. Going by the number of shares on offer (42.67 lakh shares) in the IPO, it is estimated that the share sale is expected to be priced around Rs 351.66/share. This means, at the IPO price, the Kuttukaran family will be worth Rs 2,903 crore.

This puts the Kuttukaran family above C J George family's 62.11% stake worth Rs 432 crore in Geojit Financial Services, and the Sabu Jacob family's 55.57% stake valued at Rs 579.66 crore in Kitex Garments. However, the Kuttukaran family's stock market riches will be lower than other billionaires from Kerala such as the Muthoot family of Muthoot Finance, Kalyanaraman family of Kalyan JeweLlers, the Azad Moopen family of Aster Hospitals, the Chittilappilly family, which founded the V-Guard Industries and Wonderla Holidays.

As per Friday's closing price, the Muthoot family owns shares worth Rs 45,956 crore in the gold loan company Muthoot Finance, where it holds a 73.37% stake. The Muthoot family is the richest in terms of stock market valuation among entrepreneurs in Kerala. They are followed by the Kochouseph Chittilappilly family -- it owns Rs 5,956 crore worth shares in V-Guard (56.05% stake), and another Rs 932.8 crore worth stake in Wonderla Holdings (69.76% stake).

Manappuram Finance's V P Nandakumar family is the third richest Kerala family at Rs 5933 crore for its 35.05% stake in the Thrissur-based gold loan company while T S Kalyanaraman and his family own Rs 4,730 crore for its 60.54% stake in Kalyan Jewellers. The other billionaire entrepreneur from Kerala is Azad Moopen. His family's 37.41% stake in Aster DM Healthcare is worth Rs 3624 crore, as per Friday's closing price.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com