Local businesses should aim to do Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and public listings, said Anoop Moopen, director at Aster DM Healthcare at the Malayala Manorama Sampadyam Kerala Business Summit 2025.
Speaking at a session titled “The future belongs to innovators”, Moopen explained how an IPO and a public listing helped the hospital giant to expand its portfolio beyond traditional means of scaling up a business.
Moopen took the delegates of the business summit through the journey of Aster from a single-doctor clinic in 1987 to the multi-billion-dollar healthcare company it is today.
Aster is currently one of the largest healthcare providers in the Middle East. Along with its India arm, Aster boasts a total of 34 hospitals, 133 clinics, 590 pharmacies, and 232 laboratories.
Urging more businesses to leverage the Indian stock market, Moopen highlighted how major safeguards are in place for growing entities to list in the market through IPO. Moopen lauded the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for ensuring a safe and sustainable scaling up and public listing for businesses.
Other eminent personalities in business and stakeholders in investments and education shared their insights on public listings.
“Even small and medium-sized companies can look at IPOs,” said DBFS MD Prince George, backing Moopen’s stance on public offerings.
“For exposure, IPOs are good,” said Rajan Paul, a seasoned investment consultant based in Kochi. When asked if IPOs are being overvalued, Paul quipped, “Only the media is overvaluing it.” He added that IPOs help businesses reach more people.
Education specialist Dr Roji George, who is also the vice principal of Saintgits College of Engineering (Autonomous), weighed in that public listings of companies can aid in capital formation. “Customers get confidence in your brand.”
This confidence boost is not limited to stakeholders. “Not only investors but also business partners and vendors feel confident in your brand,” George said.
However, the educator cautioned about overvaluation and urged market investors to learn more about the fundamentals of a company before investing. “Some companies hide certain details, and this is why certain IPOs fail,” he said.
2024 was a year that saw major IPOs in the stock market, with significant names such as Hyundai India and Swiggy creating an “investing rush” with oversubscribed offerings.
The second edition of the Kerala Business Summit—supported by Muthoot Fincorp, along with Bank of Baroda, DBFS, and CIAL—kicked off at the Grand Hyatt Bolgatty in Kochi on January 16, 2025.
