The Hindu Business Line : Allied Blenders & Distillers plans to tap market

Bangalore, Aug 4 Liquor baron Mr Kishore Chhabria wants to take his Allied Blenders and Distillers (formerly BDA Ltd) public to raise up to Rs 400 crore. But before that he wants to clean up his balance sheet and even get some private equity funds to invest in his company.

Allied Blenders’ and Distillers (ABD) Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Deepak Roy, told Business Line that a road map leading up to the IPO has been put in place. Once the balance sheet is cleaned up which should happen sometime this year itself, the company will raise a debt of around Rs 100 crore to acquire some distilleries. The IPO plans will be tied to the market conditions but the company expects to raise up to Rs 400 crore to fund its various expansion plans.

Greenfield projects

Mr Roy, who owns about five per cent in ABD, said initially, around Rs 100 crore will be invested in acquiring four greenfield bottling plants and some bottling plants in Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and West Bengal which should reduce dependence on outsourcing. It also plans to set up its own primary distillery unit which will provide between 20 per cent and 25 per cent of spirits for its own use. Currently, the company uses about 25 bottling units for outsourcing its needs.

Mr Roy said the company’s balance sheet was very weak and not adequately funded and carried a lot of debts. “We are going to clean up (the balance sheet) all that which will allow us to raise capital,” he said. The turnover of all ABD’s products is about Rs 800 crore and recorded a growth of about 49 per cent during the first quarter of this financial year. During the last three years, the company grew at a compounded rate of about 19 per cent.

New Launches

ABD also wants to reduce its dependence on a single brand, ‘Officer’s Choice,’ whish is considered the second largest brand in the prestige whisky segment in India. It is in the process of launching Germany’s leading vodka brand,

Wodka Gorbatschow in most markets and a few other brands during the next few years.

During FY08, ABD reported a growth of 30 per cent in sales of the brand to 6.6 million cases and a total sales of 6.86 million cases which grew at 22 per cent.

The IMFL industry grew at about 22 per cent.

The company has projected sales of 8.5 million cases during this fiscal.

More Stories on : Outlook | IPOs | Breweries | New Projects

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page