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Consumer electronics brand 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 an initial public offering (IPO). The company, co-founded by Aman Gupta and CEO Sameer Mehta, is looking to raise around ₹2,000 crore by public listing of its shares on the domestic bourses, targeting a valuation of over $1.5 billion. These numbers are tentative and may increase or decrease during the IPO filing.
boAt is expected to pre-file its draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) confidentially with the markets regulator in the next fiscal, and has reportedly finalised several bankers including ICICI Securities, Goldman Sachs and Nomura for the IPO process.
How confidential filing is different from normal route?
The confidential filing means the company will not have to make their details public under the DRHP. Globally, countries such as the U.K., Canada, and the U.S. permit pre-filing of the offer document for review by the regulatory authority, but this process is new and rarely used in India.
SEBI introduced the concept of confidential filings in November 2022, allowing companies to submit their IPO documents privately, protecting sensitive business information from competitors until they are ready to publicly announce their listing plans.
Tata Play, previously known as Tata Sky, was the first company in India to take a confidential pre-filing route for its IPO. The entertainment distribution arm of the Tata group firm filed its DRHP with the SEBI in November 2022 under the confidential pre-filing to launch its public offer, which was later shelved due to undisclosed reasons.
Last year, some big-ticket IPOs such as Swiggy and Vishal Mega Mart took confidential pre-filing route to list their shares on the domestic bourses. Recently, Credila Financial Services Limited (formerly known as HDFC Credila Financial Services Limited) also submitted its confidential IPO papers in December 2024.
Will boAt get second-time lucky?
Founded 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.
The ₹2,000 crore IPO comprised of a fresh issue of shares worth up to ₹900 crore and an offer for sale of shares worth up to ₹1,100 crore, according to the company's draft prospectus filed in 2022. The company had planned to utilise the proceeds from the IPO 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.
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.
On the financial front, 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.
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