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Beauty and wellness firm VLCC is gearing up for an initial stake sale, with the Gurgaon-based company planning to raise about ₹750-800 crore within the next 12 months. The company intends to use the proceeds for its expansion plans, including foray into other foreign countries.
“The IPO plans are very much in the offing and it’s something we are looking forward to because there will be a value addition in which the investor will get an opportunity to participate in the company’s growth. It will also help us in our expansion plans…,” Jayant Khosla, Head — West Asia, CIS and Africa of VLCC, told BusinessLine .
“The amount would fall shy of ₹1,000 crore. The exact timeline for the IPO is being worked out,” he said, adding the company is close to finalising advisers for the IPO. He, however, did not reveal the details of the advisers.
The IPO will mainly comprise fresh equity, while some of the existing financial partners would have an option to sell stake, either partly or exit completely.
Earlier plans
VLCC, a homegrown company, was earlier planning for an IPO by the fourth quarter of the FY18. However, this was shelved citing bad “market conditions.”
Founded in 1989 by entrepreneur Vandana Luthra as a beauty and slimming services centre, VLCC now has presence across 14 countries including South-East Asia, GCC countries and East Africa.
Luthra family holds about 80 per cent stake in the company, which will be reduced to 74 per cent following the IPO.
PE firm Everstone Capital holds about 15 per cent stake in the company.
Expansion plans
VLCC is also planning to invest about ₹1,500 crore to expand into other geographies, primarily across Africa, in the next 12 months.
“The focus for expansion plans would be Africa, and we will be focusing on expanding our vendor services and products businesses. The focus would be on 10 countries in East Africa, as our products have a ready market there,” Jayant Khosla said.
Prior to VLCC, Khosla was CEO with Landmark Arabia.
The company would raise the funds through a combination of IPO, internal accruals and from private equity funds. The company is also in advanced levels of discussions with “well-established” PE players for raising funds.
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