Cox & Kings sets IPO price at 316-330 rupees/shr

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Travel operator Cox & Kings (India) Ltd plans to raise up to 6.1 billion rupees through an initial public offer and has set a price band of 316-330 rupees a share for its 18.49-million share IPO.

The issue opens Nov. 18 and closes Nov. 20, the company said in a statement on Friday.

Peter Kerkar, executive director, Cox and Kings India, said the proceeds would be used for acquisitions, repaying debt and investment in overseas units. The firm has earmarked 1.5 billion rupees for acquisitions.

"We will look at business models and not geographies," Kerkar said, adding the firm has interests in corporate travel, leisure travel, forex and visa processing.

The proposed issue includes a fresh share offer of 15.45 million shares and an offer for sale of 3.04 million shares by sellers including Deutsche Securities Mauritius Limited, Merrill Lynch Capital Markets Espana and Lehman Brothers Opportunity Ltd.

Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Securities each own 3.9 percent in Cox and Kings India while Merrill Lynch has 3.2 percent stake.

Cox and Kings India intends to repay about 1.29 billion rupees of its total debt of 2.6 billion rupees from the proceeds, Chief Financial Officer Anil Khandelwal said.

The firm also said up to 50 percent of the net issue will be allocated to qualified institutional buyers including anchor investors. The firm may allot up to 2.7 million shares to anchor investors.

The net issue would constitute 29.40 percent of the fully diluted post-issue paid up capital.

India Infoline Limited is the sole book running lead manager to the issue.

(Reporting by Aniruddha Basu; Editing by Sunil Nair)