HR firm Ciel HR Services expecting to get Sebi nod for Rs 435-crore IPO soon

MUMBAI: The Chennai-based Ciel HR Services is expecting regulatory approval for its Rs 435-crore public share sale, which includes a Rs 335-crore fresh issue. If the approval is granted on time, the company plans to launch the IPO by March.
Founded in 2015 by Pandiarajan Karuppasamy, a former AIADMK politician and education minister in Tamil Nadu under the late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, Ciel HR (which means "sky" in French) is among the top 10 players in the HR management sector, with a revenue of Rs 1,100 crore as of September 2024.
Once listed, it will become the 12th company in the HR outsourcing and staffing industry, a competitive space.
Ciel HR Pandiarajan is recognised as the pioneer of outsourced HR management in India, having established the country's first such company, Ma Foi Management Consultants, in 1992. He later sold Ma Foi to the global HR player Randstad in 2010.
An investment banking source told The New Indian Express: “They are expecting the SEBI nod for the issue anytime now, and if the permission comes as expected, they are ready to launch the issue early March.”
According to the draft IPO papers filed with SEBI, the company plans to raise Rs 335 crore from the fresh issue and an Offer for Sale (OFS) of 4.74 million shares, each with a face value of Rs 2.
The selling shareholders in the OFS include the founder-chairman Pandiarajan and his wife Lata, who together will offload 2.5 million shares (their pre-issue shareholding of 61 per cent will reduce to 38 per cent).
Other selling shareholders include Hemalatha Rajan (6.3 lakh shares), Aditya Narayan Mishra (6.3 lakh shares), Santhosh Kumar Nair (5.9 lakh shares), Doraiswamy Rajiv Krishnan (1.2 lakh shares), and other existing shareholders.
Ciel claims to be the only firm in the sector offering a comprehensive suite of technology-driven HR solutions across the employee lifecycle, according to its SEBI filing.
The listed HR industry is currently led by QuessCorp (Rs 22,000 crore revenue), TeamLease, Manpower Group, SiS Consulting, and Infoedge (Naukri), among others.
Ciel provides multiple HR services across six technology platforms, catering to sectors such as retail, banking, quick commerce, and manufacturing. Its offerings include temporary recruitment (accounting for 90 per cent of its revenue), staffing, payroll processing, strategic HR advisory, and skill development.
As of June 2024, the company operated across 33 locations with 67 offices, of which 49 are run by business partners, according to an F&S Report.
While the HR industry grows at an annual rate of 15-16 per cent, Ciel has been expanding at a remarkable 60 per cent due to its unique business model that consistently delivers growth and profitability.
The company reported revenues of Rs 326 crore for the three months ending June 2024, and Rs 1,088 crore, Rs 801 crore, and Rs 528.5 crore for the fiscal years 2024, 2023, and 2022, respectively.
The net proceeds from the fresh issue will be used to acquire additional shareholding in subsidiaries such as Firstventure Corporation, Integrum Technologies, Next Leap Career Solutions, People Metrics, and Thomas Assessments.
It also plans investments in Ceil Skills and Careers, the HR tech platform ProSculpt, and the upgradation of Firstventure Corporation’s learning experience platform, Courseplay. Other investments include Ma Foi Strategic Consultants, EzyComp, Next Leap Career Solutions, and Jombay.