Public issue of Kalyan Jewellers to open on March 16, price band fixed at Rs 86-87

Kerala-based Kalyan Jewellers, one of India’s largest jewellery companies, backed by bulge-bracket private equity fund Warburg Pincus, is launching its much-anticipated Initial Public Offering (IPO), with the public issue opening for bidding on March 16, and the offer remaining open till March 18.

The company made the announcement on Thursday, March 11, adding that the price band has been fixed at Rs 86-Rs 87 per share.

Kalyan Jewellers plans to raise Rs 1,175 crore through the offer, which comprises a fresh issue of Rs 800 crore and an Offer for Sale (OFS) of Rs 375 crore. The OFS consists of the sale of Rs 125 crore worth of shares of promoter TS Kalyanaraman, and shares worth Rs 250 crore held by Highdell Investment Ltd, an affiliate of Warburg Pincus.

Speaking on the occasion, Ramesh Kalyanaraman, Executive Director, Kalyan Jewellers, said, “The proceeds from the issue of shares will be used for working capital requirements and general corporate purposes.”

This will be the first listing by a pure-play jewellery company, since PC Jewellers hit the market with its Rs 600-crore IPO in December 2012.

The book running lead managers to Kalyan Jewellers’ IPO are Axis Capital, Citigroup Global Markets India, ICICI Securities, SBI Capital Markets and BOB Capital Markets.

Incidentally, Kalyan Jewellers, which is one of the largest jewellery companies in India, based on revenue, as of March 31, 2020 (as per a Technopak Report), did not do as well as expected in 2019-20. Explaining the reasons, Ramesh said, “The floods in Kerala caused havoc and many people had to rebuild their homes. The whole economy was impacted. This is one of the reasons why revenue did not grow as much as could have been expected. However, now we have bounced back, and things are back on track.”

Kalyan Jewellers has 107 showrooms (as of June 30, 2020), located all over India. It also has an international presence, with 30 showrooms in the Middle East.

The company was founded by TS Kalyanaramanin 1993 with a single showroom in Thrissur, Kerala.

Kalyan Jewellers also sells jewellery through its online platform, www.candere.com.