Elevate Campuses Limited IPO

01At a glance

What the company does — builds, owns and runs student accommodation on university campuses, leases school buildings, and manages 14 further campuses with 55,487 beds for others (RHP p.8, RHP p.21).

Who pays it — universities and schools under long leases and service agreements. O.P. Jindal Global University was 36.97% of FY26 revenue and Manipal University Jaipur 20.54% (RHP p.31).

Why it is raising money — ₹11,000.00 million to acquire school companies and campuses from fellow subsidiaries of its promoters, and ₹7,500.00 million to repay borrowings; the rest for unidentified acquisitions and general purposes (RHP p.137).

How fast it has grown — revenue from ₹3,470.01 million in FY24 to ₹5,686.33 million in FY26, up 53.76% in FY26 alone as school assets were added (RHP p.88, RHP p.61).

The one thing to understand — this is a leveraged real-estate-style business in the middle of acquisitions: borrowings rose from ₹12,065.96 million to ₹41,205.34 million in FY26, and more than half the issue pays for assets from companies with the same ultimate owner (our arithmetic, RHP p.86, RHP p.138, RHP p.139).

02The business, in plain words

The company finances and builds hostels on university land, or acquires them, and earns rent and service fees from the university over long terms; it also owns school campuses leased to school operators (RHP p.21). The FY26 accounts include school ("K-12") assets for the first time, 29.34% of revenue (RHP p.34).

A university needs student housing → Elevate funds, builds and runs the hostel on campus → the university or students pay rent and service fees over many years → Elevate services the debt that paid for it.

Earnings equation: Profit ≈ beds × occupancy × rent + school lease income − interest − depreciation. Owned-portfolio occupancy was 89.37% at March 2026 (RHP p.51). Finance costs were ₹2,390.95 million in FY26 against EBITDA before exceptional items of ₹4,400.79 million (RHP p.88, RHP p.61).

03Where the money comes from

Source: RHP p.31, RHP p.34. On a pro forma basis, with the school companies being bought, school assets were 45.29% of FY26 revenue (RHP p.34). Revenue depends on two universities and, increasingly, on the schools.

04The growth record

Source: RHP p.88, RHP p.89, RHP p.61. Pro forma revenue including the school companies was ₹5,616.87 million, ₹6,104.74 million and ₹8,069.26 million (RHP p.61). Our arithmetic: revenue grew about 28.0% a year from FY24 to FY26 and profit before exceptional items and tax about 17.0% (RHP p.88).

05What the growth is made of

Acquisitions. In FY26 the company paid ₹24,245.25 million for investment property, ₹7,209.34 million for businesses and ₹2,697.16 million for asset acquisitions (RHP p.89). School assets contributed ₹1,668.14 million of FY26 revenue (RHP p.34). Revenue from the three largest universities rose from ₹3,074.43 million in FY24 to ₹3,494.82 million in FY26 (RHP p.31). The FY26 exceptional gain includes ₹1,094.42 million from the sale of a hostel undertaking (RHP p.62).

06Earnings quality

Operating cash flow exceeds profit because depreciation (₹1,021.41 million) and interest are added back (RHP p.89). Without the hostel sale, FY26 profit would have been well below the reported ₹1,737.59 million.

07The balance sheet

At March 2026 borrowings were ₹40,032.25 million non-current and ₹1,173.09 million current, against equity of ₹9,562.89 million (RHP p.86). Cash was ₹1,591.78 million (RHP p.86). The prospectus puts net debt at 6.23 times FY26 EBITDA, excluding the hostel sale gain (RHP p.62). In September 2026, 52,500,000 compulsorily convertible debentures of ₹200 each were converted into 22,102,500 equity shares, and 66,313,116 preference shares into equity (RHP p.115). On a pro forma basis, with the school companies, borrowings were ₹48,322.51 million (our arithmetic, RHP p.92).

08What the money is for

Source: RHP p.137, RHP p.138. The school companies were valued at ₹11,157.1 million at March 31, 2026, and the gap of about ₹157.1 million is to come from cash (RHP p.138). The school purchase is about 52.38% of the gross proceeds (RHP p.138).

Into the business ₹21,000.00 million, of which ₹11,000.00 million passes to entities under the same ultimate owners (RHP p.137, RHP p.139). To selling shareholders nothing: there is no offer for sale (RHP p.83).

09Who is selling

No one. The issue is only new shares (RHP p.83).

10Promoters

The promoters are Genius Bidco Holdings Pte. Ltd. and Genius Rajkot Investment Holdings Pte. Ltd., owned and controlled by funds of Hillhouse Investment; the school companies being bought are held by entities under the same control, which makes them fellow subsidiaries (RHP p.139). Genius Bidco's average cost is ₹147.92 a share and Genius Rajkot's ₹475.06 a share (RHP p.131).

11Who already owns it

The two promoters hold all 110,519,988 shares before the issue: Genius Bidco 88,417,488 and Genius Rajkot 22,102,500 (RHP p.131, RHP p.115). If the whole issue is allotted at ₹362, they would hold about 65.6% (our arithmetic, RHP p.131). Because the company does not meet the profitability test for a normal listing, at least 75% of the issue goes to institutions and no more than 10% to retail investors (RHP p.3, RHP p.83).

12What changed just before the IPO

• Revenue rose 53.76% in FY26 as school assets were added (RHP p.61).
• Borrowings more than tripled in FY26 to fund acquisitions (RHP p.86, RHP p.89).
• A hostel undertaking was sold at a gain of ₹1,094.42 million (RHP p.62).
• Leases with two properties, County and Woodstock, were terminated; owned occupancy fell to 87.17% in September 2025 and recovered to 89.37% by March 2026 (RHP p.51).
• Debentures and preference shares were converted into 88,415,616 equity shares in September 2026 (our arithmetic, RHP p.115).

13Capacity and expansion

The managed portfolio covers 14 campuses with 55,487 beds (RHP p.8). Investment properties under development were ₹2,026.65 million at March 2026 (RHP p.86). The issue funds acquisitions rather than construction (RHP p.137).

14Market size and industry structure

As claimed — the prospectus has an industry overview from page 191; this study does not restate its market figures.

The part that is addressable — on-campus student accommodation for private universities, and school buildings leased to operators.

What the company is today — FY26 revenue of ₹5,686.33 million, or ₹8,069.26 million pro forma (RHP p.88, RHP p.61).

15Competitive position

The prospectus says there are no listed companies in India comparable in business and scale (RHP p.164). Its position rests on long agreements with a few universities: the three largest provided 61.46% of FY26 revenue (RHP p.31).

16Peers the company named

Peers named in the offer document: none. The prospectus states that no listed Indian company is comparable, so it gives no peer ratios (RHP p.164, RHP p.165).

17Valuation at the issue price

At the upper band of ₹362, ₹21,000 million is about 58,011,049 new shares, taking the total from 110,519,988 to about 168,531,037 (our arithmetic, RHP p.115, RHP p.137):

Source: RHP p.88, RHP p.61. At ₹343 the market capitalisation is about ₹58,908.36 million (our arithmetic, RHP p.115). FY26 diluted EPS was ₹17.81 on the share count before the September 2026 conversions (RHP p.88). Net asset value per share of ₹432.62 is computed on the March 2026 share count, before the conversions, so it is not comparable with the issue price (RHP p.165). The prospectus gives no peer ratios (RHP p.164). Genius Rajkot's shares came from debentures converted at ₹475.06 a share, above the band (RHP p.131).

18Subscription

Bidding opens on September 23, 2026 and closes on September 25, 2026, per the NSE issue page. This study was written before bidding opened. The lot is 41 shares, ₹14,842 at the upper band.

19Risks, in plain words

Customers — two universities were 57.51% of FY26 revenue (our arithmetic, RHP p.31) → a dispute or non-renewal with either would cut revenue sharply.

Debt — net debt was 6.23 times FY26 EBITDA excluding the hostel sale (RHP p.62) → interest absorbs over half of EBITDA (our arithmetic, RHP p.88, RHP p.61) → ₹7,500.00 million of the issue repays debt (RHP p.137).

Related-party acquisition — ₹11,000.00 million pays for assets from fellow subsidiaries of the promoters (RHP p.137) → the price rests on valuation reports commissioned for the deal (RHP p.138).

Occupancy — terminated leases cut owned occupancy to 87.17% before a recovery (RHP p.51).

Issue-specific — up to 25% of gross proceeds may go to acquisitions not yet identified (RHP p.138).

20Litigation and regulatory matters

Source: RHP p.57.

21Related-party transactions

The largest related-party transaction is the object of the issue itself: ₹11,000.00 million paid for school companies owned by the promoters' fellow subsidiaries (RHP p.137, RHP p.139). The summary of related-party transactions runs from RHP p.96; this study did not reproduce it.

22What the offer document does not say

The prospectus gives no listed peer comparison (RHP p.164). This study did not find, in the pages read, the rents and remaining term of the agreements with the two largest universities, or the pro forma profit of the combined group.

23Five questions for management

1. What are the remaining terms and renewal conditions of the agreements with O.P. Jindal Global University and Manipal University Jaipur?
2. What would FY26 profit have been without the ₹1,094.42 million gain on the hostel sale?
3. How was the ₹11,157.1 million valuation of the school companies reached, and who commissioned it?
4. What will interest cost fall to after ₹7,500.00 million of debt is repaid?
5. Which acquisitions are being considered for the part of the proceeds reserved for unidentified acquisitions?

1Sources and cited facts

This study was read from 1 document the company filed. The 52 figures it cites are listed under the document each came from, with the page and the sentence as printed.