Friction at the top in Puravankara Projects

There seems to be a falling out among the promoters of Bangalore-based Puravankara Projects. Girish Puravankara, deputy managing director of the company, has quit. He is the cousin of Ravi Puravankara, the main promoter of the firm which recently went public.

According to industry sources, differences over share allotment to Girish Puravankara were simmering ever since the IPO process began. They further added that Ravi and Girish Puravankara are credited with having built up the firm.

However, a spokesperson for the firm said Girish Puravankara had personal reasons for his exit. "Girish is a relative of Ravi Puravankara and was with the company only as an employee and not as a promoter for the past few years. There is absolutely no split in the family," a spokesperson added. Girish Purvankara could not be reached for comments.

Puravankara Projects had to struggle to push through its IPO after having to reduce the offer price and extend the window by five days for full subscription. The book-running lead managers, DSP Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and Kotak Mahindra Capital had to reduce the price band to Rs 400 - 450 from the earlier Rs 500 - 525. Eventually, the company managed to raise around Rs 950 crore as against the targeted Rs 1,130 crore, from the issue which closed during August of this year.