Elevate Campuses IPO opens Sept 23: Check price band, key details, business model, risks and more

Singaporean Hillhouse Capital-backed Elevate Campuses has fixed the price band for its initial public offering (IPO) at Rs 343-Rs 362 per share, with the issue set to open for public subscription on September 23. Investors can bid for a minimum of 41 shares and in multiples thereafter. The anchor investor portion will open on September 22, while the public issue will close on September 25.

At the upper end of the price band, the company aims to raise Rs 2,100 crore through a public issue comprising entirely a fresh issue of shares, with no offer-for-sale component. At that price, Elevate Campuses is expected to command a post-listing market capitalisation of Rs 6,100.82 crore. 

Hillhouse Investment, Singapore, is the promoter of Elevate Campuses through Genius Bidco Holdings and Genius Rajkot Investment Holdings. Of the total issue size, 75 per cent has been reserved for qualified institutional buyers, 15 per cent for non-institutional investors and 10 per cent for retail investors.  

Use of proceeds Elevate Campuses plans to use Rs 1,100 crore from the net proceeds to acquire K-12 entities and campuses from fellow subsidiaries of its promoters, accounting for around 52.4 per cent of the total issue size. Another Rs 750 crore will be used to repay part of the debt availed by the company and certain wholly owned subsidiaries. The remaining funds will go towards inorganic growth through unidentified acquisitions and general corporate purposes.

Business model The company describes itself as an institutionalised and independent education platform, though it primarily operates as an education-infrastructure company. It owns and manages student accommodation for colleges and universities and owns K-12 school infrastructure leased to third-party school operators.

As of March 2026, Elevate Campuses had student accommodation capacity of 80,255 beds across 16 cities in India and Dubai, including 20,368 owned beds and 55,487 beds under management contracts with higher education institutions. Its portfolio includes assets associated with institutions such as Manipal, OP Jindal Global University and Shoolini University.

It earns rental and management fees, along with income from services such as dining, laundry, gyms and other campus facilities. Its owned assets typically have operating lives of 50-60 years, while managed contracts are generally asset-light and run for up to five years. It also operates under contracts with minimum occupancy guarantees and collects fees upfront.

K-12 business and risks In the K-12 segment, Elevate Campuses does not run schools or provide education services. It owns land, school buildings and related infrastructure, which are leased to school operators. It currently owns two K-12 assets in Dubai - Hartland International School and North London Collegiate School - acquired in September 2025 from a promoter-group entity for around Rs 2,137.75 crore.

After the IPO, it plans to acquire 16 more K-12 entities and campuses in India, including in Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune, taking its portfolio to 18 assets with a combined capacity of about 24,086, according to CBRE estimates. Owned-bed occupancy fell from 99.92 per cent in FY24 to 89.37 per cent in FY26.

Its top three higher education institution clients - O.P. Jindal Global University, Manipal University Jaipur and Shoolini University - accounted for 61.46 per cent of FY26 revenue, against 89 per cent in FY25, with O.P. Jindal Global University alone contributing about 36 per cent.

Financials and timeline Elevate Campuses reported a 3.5-fold rise in consolidated profit to Rs 173.8 crore for the year ended March 2026, from Rs 49.7 crore a year earlier. Revenue from operations rose 53.8 per cent to Rs 568.6 crore from Rs 369.8 crore. JM Financial, IIFL Capital Services and Morgan Stanley India Company are the merchant bankers to the issue. Listing is said to be done on September 30.