Sequoia Capital-backed kitchen appliances maker Stovekraft Pvt. Ltd has hired investment banks for a planned public listing, two people aware of the development said.
Stovekraft makes and sells a wide range of kitchen products including pressure cookers, non-stick cookware, gas and induction cooktops, mixer-grinders and chimneys under the Pigeon and Gilma brands.
“The company has appointed investment banks Edelweiss and JM Financial to manage its initial public offering (IPO) and work on the draft prospectus is expected to start in the coming weeks,” said one of the two people cited above, requesting anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
The IPO will allow Sequoia to partially exit its stake in the kitchen appliances maker, the first person added. Sequoia owns around 40% of the company.
“The public offering will be a mix of primary share sale and secondary share sale. Sequoia is… expected to offer a significant quantum of its shares in the IPO, while some fresh capital could be raised for investing in the business. The IPO process has just been started and the quantum of primary and secondary share sales are yet to finalized by the shareholders,” he said.
The company is looking at a valuation of around $250-300 million, the first person said.
Sequoia Capital declined to comment on the development.
Emails sent to Rajendra Gandhi, chairman and managing director, and Neha Gandhi, director at Stovekraft, did not elicit any response.
Emails to sent Edelweiss and JM Financial too went unanswered.
According to Stovekraft’s website, the company earned revenue of Rs650 crore in the financial year 2015-16 and sells over 600 products.
The company has over the years also managed to establish a presence in Kenya, Uganda, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Tanzania.
Stovekraft has two manufacturing plants in India, one at Bangalore and the other at Baddi, Himachal Pradesh.
The company has expanded into the LED lighting market with its Pigeon brand, selling LED products for both domestic and commercial applications.
Sequoia bought a stake in Stovekraft in 2010, investing Rs50 crore for a significant minority holding.
In 2013, it invested Rs120 crore more to raise its stake to around 40%.
This will be the second consumer brand from Sequoia’s India portfolio to go public in recent times.
Earlier this year snack maker Prataap Snacks Ltd, where it owned a majority stake, went public.
Prataap’s Rs482-crore IPO was subscribed 47.29 times when it launched in September.
Sequoia sold shares worth Rs167 crore in the IPO.
Earlier in 2016, another Sequoia-backed company, antivirus maker Quick Heal Technologies, went public.
So far this year, 33 companies have raised Rs65,923 crore through IPOs, a record for the Indian primary market, according to data from primary market tracker Prime Database.
In 2016, 26 companies had raised Rs26,493.8 crore from the IPO market.
Source: Mint