Hyundai Motor Co could raise as much as US$3.5 billion from the eagerly anticipated initial public offering of its Indian unit, people familiar with the matter said, easily making it the biggest to ever take place in the country.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd. plans to start gauging investor interest in the coming weeks, with a listing likely in September or October, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public.

The carmaker is targeting a deal size of at least US$3 billion, potentially rising to as much as US$3.5 billion, the people said. Details such as the size and timing of the offering are still under discussion and may change, they said.

A representative for Hyundai India declined to comment. IFR and Indian media have previously reported that the IPO could raise about US$3 billion.

An IPO of that size would break the record set by Life Insurance Corp of India, which raised 206 billion rupees in 2022. It would also be one of Asia’s biggest IPOs in recent years.

Hyundai filed a draft red herring prospectus with the market regulator in mid-June, saying it would sell a 17.5% stake, or 142.2 million shares. The unit isn’t selling new shares in the IPO and the proceeds will go to the parent, it said. 

Almost US$5 billion has been raised via IPOs in India this year, more than double the amount by this stage last year, data compiled by Bloomberg shows.

  - Bloomberg