boAt gets shareholders’ nod for IPO, to file DRHP with SEBI soon

boAt, the country’s largest wearable brand, has reportedly received shareholders’ approval to go ahead with the initial public offering (IPO) plan. The shareholders of boAt’s parent firm, Imagine Marketing, have given nod to a special resolution allowing the company to raise capital via IPO route, which will be combination of fresh equity shares and offer for sale by existing shareholders, as per the filings made with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).

Consumer electronics brand boAt, co-founded by CMO Aman Gupta and CEO Sameer Mehta, is looking to raise around ₹2,000-2,500 crore, including a fresh equity shares worth ₹500 crore. The issue size is subject to change during the IPO filing based on market conditions.

boAt, which sells audio and wearables like headphones, smartwatches, and speakers, is gearing up to file confidential papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for the IPO. It is expected to pre-file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) confidentially with the markets regulator in the next fiscal. The company has reportedly finalised several bankers including ICICI Securities, Goldman Sachs and Nomura for the IPO process.

Established in 2013 and launched its flagship brand “boAt” in 2014, the Delhi-based company is making second attempt to go public after it first filed for a ₹2,000 crore IPO in 2022 but later withdrew amid tough market conditions. Instead of taking listing route, boAt raised ₹500 crore in private funding from existing investor Warburg Pincus and new investor Malabar Investments.

As per the last DRHP filed with the regulator, the company proposed to raise ₹2,000 crore, which was a combination of fresh equity issue worth up to ₹900 crore and an offer for sale of shares worth up to ₹1,100 crore. The company had planned to utilise the IPO proceeds to repay and prepay its borrowings. Through the IPO, the company’s co-founders were also planning to pare their stake worth ₹150 crore each and its investor South Lake Investment was planning to sell shares worth ₹800 crore. 

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As per latest report by the market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC), boAt is the leader in the overall wearable category in India, cornering a 27% market share, followed by Noise (Nexxbase) with a 12.2% share in 2024. 

In terms of financial performance, the Warburg Pincus-backed firm has managed to reduce its net loss by 47% to ₹53.6 crore in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from ₹101 crore in the previous fiscal. The startup managed to turn EBITDA profitable in FY24, reporting an operating profit of ₹14.04 crore in FY24 as against an EBITDA loss of ₹50.21 crore in FY23. The revenue dropped 5% to ₹3,121.6 crore from ₹3,284.7 crore in the previous fiscal year.