Continuum Green Energy, backed by sustainable investor Just Climate and Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, had filed draft papers with the market regulator to raise Rs 36.5 billion via an initial public offer (IPO), according to exchange filings reviewed by Moneycontrol. Following the recent listings of NTPC Green Energy and Acme Solar Holdings, Continuum was the third player from the renewable energy segment preparing for a market debut.

The IPO was said to consist of a fresh issue size of Rs 12.5 billion and an offer for sale (OFS) component of Rs 24 billion. Promoter entity Continuum Green Energy Holdings Limited was identified as the selling shareholder in the draft documents.

The net proceeds of the issue, besides being used for general corporate purposes, were expected to be directed towards debt repayment of subsidiaries as well as payment of accrued interest through investments in those subsidiaries.

Investment banks acting on the deal were named as Kotak Mahindra Capital, Citi, JM Financial, and Ambit Capital, while law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas was the company’s counsel.

On August 19, Just Climate had announced an investment of $150 million in new equity to support Continuum’s continued deployment of wind-solar-hybrid energy generation and storage projects across India. The clean energy firm’s co-founders had acquired a majority stake from Morgan Stanley earlier in the year.

The report mentioned that in the past, strategic players like Norway’s Statkraft, the US-based Sun Edison (which went bankrupt), ReNew Power, Petronas, Sembcorp, and others had explored a stake buy in Continuum Energy, but those discussions had not materialized into a deal.

Founded in 2009 by Arvind Bansal and Vikash Saraf, Continuum Green Energy was described as an independent power producer with over 14 years of experience in identifying, developing, constructing, and operating renewable energy projects in India. The company focused on supplying green power to commercial and industrial consumers, as well as state and central distribution utilities and power exchanges.

The firm’s largest operating single project site, the Rajkot project in Gujarat, had an operational capacity of 394.3 MW. It was noted that Continuum had acquired its first 16.50 MW wind project in 2010 and had grown its portfolio to a total operational and under-construction capacity of 3.52 GWp, according to the draft papers.