The IPO dash in retail continues with six companies from the ecosystem having filed their draft offer documents with SEBI so far in 2024
A total of 48 draft offer documents were filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) since 1 January 2024. Out of these, six are by companies from the retail ecosystem—a mix of retailers and service providers.
A quick look at who they are and how much they are planning to raise from the public issue (listed in reverse chronological order)…
Patel Retail Ltd.
Mumbai-based Patel Retail runs a chain of supermarkets under the brand name Patel’s R Mart. The company is based in Ambernath, a sleepy suburb of Mumbai, and operates 31 stores (as of 31 December 2023) across the 10 localities in the suburban area of Thane and Raigad districts in Maharashtra covering 1.26 lakh sq. ft. of retail space.
The chain sells around 38 product categories with over 10,000 product SKUs in its stores. It has a robust portfolio of private labels comprising pulses (Patel Fresh), spices (Indian Chaska), menswear, home improvement products (Patel Essentials) and ready-to-cook.
The company filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) on 3 April 2024. The offer comprises a fresh issue and an offer for sale. The total offer size is up to 10.02 lakh equity Shares of face value of Rs10 each. The IPO size as per media reports is Rs250 – Rs 325 crore.
P N Gadgil Jewellers Ltd.
Pune-based P N Gadgil (PNG) Jewellers Ltd. is one of the three companies bearing the 200-year-old PNG brand name. The company sells gold and diamond jewellery primarily under the flagship brand ‘PNG’ and various sub-brands, through multiple channels, including 33 (as on December 31, 2023) company-owned, company-operated retail stores and various online marketplaces, including its website.
Its presence spans an aggregate retail area of 95,885 sq. ft. Thirty-two of its stores are spread across 18 cities in Maharashtra and Goa. The 33rd store is in the U.S.
The company filed its DRHP on 28 March 2024. The offer comprises a fresh issue and an offer for sale aggregating up to Rs 11,000 million (Rs 250 crore).
The company plans to use the funds raised to expand its store network by opening 12 new stores in Maharashtra by Fiscal 2026.
Baazar Style Retail Ltd.
Kolkata-based value fashion retailer Baazar Style Retail Ltd. runs stores under the brand name Style Baazar, Express Baazar and Mega Baazar in East and Northeast India.
As of 31 December 2023, the retailer operated 153 stores spread across over 1.39 million sq. ft. located in 140 cities. It sells products in two major categories: apparel and general merchandise.
In apparel, it sells garments for men, women, boys, girls and infants, whereas its general merchandise offerings include non-apparel and home furnishing products.
In addition to established brands, the retailer also sells private labels, which contributed 36.78% to its revenue from operations in the nine months ended 31 December 2023.
The company filed its DRHP on 18 March 2024. The offer comprises a fresh issue and an offer for sale aggregating up to Rs 11,000 million (Rs 250 crore).
The company plans to use the net proceeds from the initial public offering (IPO) towards prepayment or repayment of all or a portion of certain outstanding borrowings and general corporate purposes.
Unicommerce eSolutions Ltd.
Softbank-backed and Snapdeal-owned Unicommerce eSolutions plans to sell 2.98 crore shares during its IPO for which it filed a DRHP on 8 January 2024.
Unicommerce is an e-commerce enablement software as a service (SaaS) startup that enables end-to-end management of e-commerce operations for brands, sellers and logistics service provider firms.
As per a Redseer Report, it was the only profitable company among the top five players in the industry in India during Fiscal 2022.
All proceeds from the offer will go to investors selling their shares with nothing coming to the company.
The company expects the proposed listing of its equity shares to enhance its visibility and brand image.
One Mobikwik Systems Ltd.
Gurugram-based digital payments firm Mobikwik Systems filed its DRHP on 5 January 2024 to raise Rs 700 crore through a fresh issue. In July 2023, the company filed a DRHP to raise Rs1900 crore, according to its SEBI filings. Now the company is looking to explore other avenues after consulting with its Book Running Lead Manager to raise the funds.
The technology-first company started as a Wallet, and over the years, evolved into becoming a provider and distributor of a diverse array of financial services, ranging from credit (MobiKwik ZIP, ZIP EMI), digital payments (MobiKwik Wallet, Zaakpay, UPI) and wealth management (MobiKwik Xtra).
The company intends to use the bulk of the net proceeds to fund growth in its financial services and payment services business. It will also use the funds to invest in data, machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI) and product and technology. A small portion of the proceeds will also be used for capital expenditure for its payment devices business. The balance will be used for general corporate purposes.
Swiggy
Food services aggregator Swiggy has filed its DRHP with Sebi for a massive IPO of Rs 10,400 crore as per media reports. The Bengaluru-based company has filed the documents using Sebi’s pre-filing facility. DRHPs filed this way do not show up in the public domain.
Swiggy’s IPO plan includes fresh shares and an offer of sale.
