Elevate Campuses Limited IPO

01At a glance

What the company does — owns, operates and manages student accommodation on the campuses of higher-education institutions (HEIs), and owns K-12 school campuses leased to school operators (DRHP p.20). At March 2025 it owned 17,995 beds at 99.47% occupancy and managed 6,231 more (DRHP p.149).

Who pays it — universities and their students, through accommodation charges and management fees; school operators, through lease rentals (DRHP p.24). One HEI in Haryana provided 51.40% of FY25 revenue and Manipal University Jaipur 31.60% (DRHP p.45).

Why it is raising money — ₹11,000 million to acquire 14 K-12 entities and campuses, ₹7,500 million to repay borrowings of the company and four subsidiaries, and the rest for unidentified acquisitions, strategic initiatives and general purposes (DRHP p.21, DRHP p.43).

How fast it has grown — revenue from ₹2,925 million in FY23 to ₹3,470 million in FY24 and ₹3,698 million in FY25 (DRHP p.22).

The one thing to understand — a large part of the offer money goes to its own investor's group. The promoters, Genius Bidco and Genius Rajkot, and the K-12 HoldCos that own the schools to be acquired are all ultimately owned and controlled by funds of Hillhouse Investment, and the purchase is 43.14% of gross proceeds (DRHP p.47, DRHP p.129).

02The business, in plain words

A campus-housing company builds or buys hostels on university campuses under long agreements, runs them, and collects rent from students or fees from the university; it also owns school buildings and leases them to school operators.

A university needs hostel rooms for its students → Elevate builds or takes over the hostel on campus under a long agreement → students stay and pay for rooms and services → the company collects the charges, or a management fee for beds it manages.

Earnings equation: Profit ≈ beds × occupancy × charge per bed + management fees + school lease rent − operating cost − interest. EBITDA margin was 65.80% in FY25 (DRHP p.149).

03Where the money comes from

Source: DRHP p.24, DRHP p.45. The FY23 Himachal share is our arithmetic. All revenue in the three years came from student accommodation in northern and southern India (DRHP p.24).

04The growth record

Source: DRHP p.22, DRHP p.95, DRHP p.149.

05What the growth is made of

Mainly the existing campuses. Owned beds rose from 16,540 to 17,995 between FY23 and FY24 and stayed there, with occupancy above 99% throughout (DRHP p.149). Managed beds rose from none in FY23 to 6,231 in FY25 (DRHP p.149). Revenue growth slowed to 6.57% in FY25 (DRHP p.149).

06Earnings quality

Cash is strong relative to profit: operating cash flow was ₹7,283.86 million over FY23 to FY25 against profit of ₹1,213.43 million (our arithmetic, DRHP p.22, DRHP p.95). Net debt was 2.68 times EBITDA at March 2025 (DRHP p.149). The company invested ₹1,200.00 million in optionally convertible debentures in FY25 (DRHP p.95). It treats hostel charges above ₹20,000 a month before July 2024 as exempt from GST, relying on legal opinion and court rulings, and records no contingent liability for it (DRHP p.25).

07The balance sheet

Source: DRHP p.22, DRHP p.149. On a pro forma basis including the acquisitions, FY25 revenue would be ₹5,591.55 million, profit ₹903.42 million and borrowings ₹29,214.70 million (DRHP p.23).

08What the money is for

Source: DRHP p.21. The subsidiaries are GHS Shoolini, GHS Sonipat, Souk HIS UAE and Souk NLCS UAE (DRHP p.21). The last line may not exceed 35% of gross proceeds (DRHP p.21).

09Who is selling

Nobody. The issue is a fresh issue only, of up to ₹25,500 million (DRHP p.20).

10Promoters

The promoters are Genius Bidco Holdings Pte. Ltd. and Genius Rajkot Investment Holdings Pte. Ltd., ultimately owned and controlled by funds of Hillhouse Investment (DRHP p.20, DRHP p.129). No proceedings are listed against the promoters (DRHP p.24). Two senior managers are due discretionary bonuses of ₹59.98 million and ₹27.08 million payable on listing (DRHP p.377).

11Who already owns it

Source: DRHP p.21. Genius Rajkot holds 52,500,000 convertible debentures of ₹200 each; these and Genius Bidco's preference shares convert into up to 118,813,116 equity shares before the RHP (DRHP p.21).

12What changed just before the IPO

• Dubai schools — Souk HIS and Souk NLCS acquired after March 2025 (DRHP p.43, DRHP p.145).
• Karnataka exit — the HEI Karnataka hostel business transferred to the university for ₹2,075.00 million in April 2025 (DRHP p.48).
• School purchase — agreements signed to acquire 14 K-12 entities and campuses (DRHP p.43).

13Capacity and expansion

The CBRE report cited in the offer document estimates current capacity at 94,758 students across 21 cities (DRHP p.20). On a pro forma basis the group would have 45,828 managed beds, 15 HEIs and 16 K-12 assets (DRHP p.149). The document lists greenfield development as a risk (DRHP p.24).

14Market size and industry structure

The CBRE report cited in the offer document puts India's higher-education gross enrolment ratio at an estimated 31.0% in 2023-24, against 76.3% in Germany, and private unaided schools at 36.3% of school enrolments (DRHP p.20). It puts national occupancy for this kind of housing at 85–90% (DRHP p.145). Those estimates are CBRE's, and newboard has not tested them.

15Competitive position

What the document claims, and what it rests on:

• Largest institutional platform of its kind by student capacity, citing CBRE (DRHP p.146).
• Occupancy of 99.47% in owned beds (DRHP p.145).

Against that: dependence on three HEIs and two regions, early termination or renegotiation of agreements, and land-title risk (DRHP p.24, DRHP p.25).

16Peers the company named

None. The document says no listed Indian company has a comparable portfolio of student housing and K-12 assets (DRHP p.62, DRHP p.146).

No P/E is possible for the company until a price band is set.

17Risks, in plain words

• Two universities. 83% of FY25 revenue (DRHP p.45).
• Related-party purchase. ₹11,000 million to promoter affiliates (DRHP p.47).
• Contracts. Agreements may end early or be renegotiated (DRHP p.24).
• Payments. Operators or HEIs may pay late (DRHP p.24).
• Title. Land records may be inaccurate (DRHP p.25).

18Litigation and regulatory matters

Source: DRHP p.23. The company tax matter is a show-cause notice of September 2025 from the Karnataka Commercial Taxes Department alleging unpaid GST for FY2021-22 (DRHP p.529). The company has also applied to the RoC over having fewer than two members from April 2024 to July 2025 (DRHP p.529).

19Related-party transactions

The ₹11,000 million school purchase is from K-12 HoldCos that are affiliates of the promoters (DRHP p.47). Other related-party transactions were not read in detail for this study.

20What the offer document does not say

In the sections read for this study, the document does not give:

• Who the HEIs in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh are, which it does not name (DRHP p.45).
• How the ₹11,000 million price for the schools was set, in the pages read.
• What the ₹1,200 million of debentures were invested in, in the pages read.
• Why the Karnataka hostel business was given up, beyond "commercial considerations" (DRHP p.48).
• The price band, lot size or issue dates, which is normal at DRHP stage.

21Five questions for management

1. How was the price for the 14 school companies set, and who valued them independently?
2. How long do the agreements with the Haryana HEI and Manipal University Jaipur run?
3. What happens to the business if either university builds its own hostels?
4. What does the Karnataka GST notice claim, and is the pre-2024 exemption position at risk elsewhere?
5. Why were bonuses tied to listing?

1Sources and cited facts

This study was read from 1 document the company filed. The 39 figures it cites are listed under the document each came from, with the page and the sentence as printed.