Allied Blenders and Distillers (ABD) had filed draft documents with market regulator the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to raise Rs 2,000 crore through an initial public offering (IPO), consisting of a fresh issue of Rs 1,000 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to shares worth Rs 1,000 crore by promoters and shareholders.

Around Rs 700 crore of the Rs 1,000 crore raised via fresh issue will be used to repay debt and the balance Rs 300 crore of the IPO proceeds will go towards capacity expansion and brand building, Bikram Basu, VP of Marketing and Strategy at Allied Blenders & Distillers told media.

Allied Blenders and Distillers (ABD) had filed draft documents with market regulator the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to raise Rs 2,000 crore through an initial public offering (IPO), consisting of a fresh issue of Rs 1,000 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to shares worth Rs 1,000 crore by promoters and shareholders.

Offer for Sale (OFS) is when the promoters i.e. owners of a listed company sell their shares to the general public.

Shares worth up to Rs 500 crore will be offloaded by Bina Kishore Chhabria, up to Rs 250 crore by Resham Chhabria Jeetndera Hemdev and up to Rs 250 crore by Neesha Kishore Chhabria, the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) said.

Speaking to the channel, Basu also noted, “We are very strong in the mass segment with Officer’s Choice and we have done really well with our Sterling Reserve brand. The company should be back to pre-Covid revenue in the current financial year.”

On growth, Basu said inorganic growth is something they will look at “if an opportunity comes our way”. He added that they are “doing explorations of brands for inorganic growth, adding that this is “at an exploratory stage when it comes to the acquisition of certain brands”.

“The company is very strong in the mass segment with Officer’s Choice, and has done really well with our brand ‘Sterling Reserve’. The plan is to bring more premium brands,” he said. Further expanding on this he said that the plan is to “grow and build our own brands”. He added that two new brands— Srishti Premium Whiskey and X&O — were launched recently in the semi-premium and premium categories, which they want to scale up and “participate stronger in those spaces”.

“We did get affected by COVID-19. We were no exception to that and it shows in our results. If I look at the current year trend too, we are projecting that we should be back to pre-Covid levels in the current financial year in terms of volume growth,” he added.

Basu also shared that FY19 revenue for Allied Blenders stood at Rs 8,947 crore. “We are expecting a high single-digit growth in volumes (this fiscal). We expect margins to come closer to mid-high double-digit soon,” he added.

Company Background-: Mumbai-based Allied Blenders Distillers is the third-largest IMFL (India-made foreign liquor)  maker in India and the largest Indian-owned one in terms of annual sales volumes. It is one of the only four spirits companies in India with a pan-India sales and distribution footprint, and is a leading exporter of IMFL, in terms of annual sales volumes between fiscal 2019 to fiscal 2021 with an estimated peak share of 20% in fiscal 2021.

The company started its journey in 1988 with the launch of the flagship brand Officer’s Choice Whisky which marked their entry into the mass premium whisky segment. Over the years, ABD has expanded and introduced products across various categories and segments and established market leadership in the alcoholic beverages market in India with a market share of 8.2% in the IMFL market by sales volumes in Fiscal 2021. Its main competitors are United Spirits Ltd and Pernod Ricard India Pvt. Ltd and Radico Khaitan Ltd.