In the world of Indian markets, not every company takes the IPO route to get listed.
Some choose a much quieter, faster — and sometimes more creative — path.
That’s exactly what Lords Mark Industries Limited seems to be doing.
There once was a little-known listed company called Kratos Energy and Infrastructure Limited.
It barely traded, had just 10 lakh shares, and hadn’t made any meaningful business moves in years.
Of these, 4.9 lakh shares were held by promoters and a little over 5 lakh by the public.
Essentially, Kratos was a defunct shell — a listed entity without much substance.
Now enter Lords Mark Industries Limited — a privately held (unlisted) company with businesses spanning diagnostics, renewable energy, and paper manufacturing.
Instead of going through the long and costly IPO process, Lords Mark chose the reverse merger route.
Here’s how it works:
The listed shell (Kratos) was first renamed to Lords Mark India Limited.
Then, under a court-approved scheme, the company decided to extinguish the 4.9 lakh promoter shares of the old Kratos and issue 42.66 crore new shares to the shareholders of Lords Mark Industries — the unlisted parent.
Effectively, the unlisted company is now merging into the listed shell, thereby becoming publicly traded.
And just like that, Lords Mark Industries gets its listing — without an IPO.
According to the scheme, each shareholder of Lords Mark Industries (unlisted) will receive
1.25 shares of Lords Mark India (listed) for every 1 share they hold.
The record date for this share swap is 20th November 2025.
Now, if you do a little math — issuing 42.66 crore shares at a ratio of 1.25 implies that the unlisted Lords Mark Industries currently has about 34.13 crore shares outstanding.
At the prevailing unlisted market price of ₹77 per share, the implied valuation of Lords Mark Industries works out to roughly ₹2,600 crore.
For companies like Lords Mark, this approach offers a few clear advantages:
Faster listing: No need to go through SEBI’s lengthy IPO vetting process.
Cost-efficient: Avoids underwriting, marketing, and listing expenses.
Continuity: The listed shell already has an exchange presence, allowing the business to plug in seamlessly.
Of course, it’s not all rosy — investors often approach such backdoor listings with caution.
They want clarity on financials, business fundamentals, and governance — especially since the FY24–25 annual report of Lords Mark Industries isn’t yet available.
Reverse mergers are not new.
Several small-cap and mid-cap players have used this path when IPOs became difficult.
But it’s a strategy that works only if the underlying business — in this case, Lords Mark Industries — can justify the valuation once it starts trading.
At ₹2,600 crore implied value, the market will soon decide if that optimism is justified.
Through this merger, Lords Mark Industries has found a way to enter the listed space — by breathing life into a dormant company.
Whether this becomes a success story or a cautionary tale will depend on what comes next: transparency, governance, and performance once the shares hit the market.
Until then, this remains one of the most interesting — and closely watched — backdoor listings of 2025.
