Jhunjhunwala-Backed Baazar Style Retail Files for IPO

Targeting the aspiring middle class, Baazar Style Retail runs over 15o stores across 140 cities.
MUMBAI, Mar 18 (The CONNECT)- Kolkata-based value fashion retailer Baazar Style Retail Limited has filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) with the market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), for its initial public offering (IPO).
Incorporated in FY14, Bazaar Style Retail is one of the leading players in the value retail market in West Bengal and Odisha and its other core and focus markets include Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh .
The company is backed by investors including Rekha Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, the wife of Late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Kewal Kiran Clothing Limited, Manohar Lal Agarwal, promoter of Haldiram Snacks, Boon-family office of Supreme Industries, Intensive Softshare Private Limited, D.K. Surana, Ajay Kumar Jain and Sanjay Kumar Jain, partners of J.K. Jain Sparky (India) LLP.
As per the Technopack report quoted in the DRHP, the company is the fastest-growing value retailer during the period 2017 to 2023 when compared to V2 Retail and V Mart Retail in terms of store count and revenue from operations. Its product portfolio includes both apparel and general merchandise, including cosmetics and imitation jewellery, consumer appliances, houseware products, and bags.
Its portfolio of apparel includes shirts, t-shirts, trousers, sarees, sports and active wear, winter wear, nightwear, western wear, ethnic wear, and accessories catering to the needs of men, women, children, and youngsters.
It has a healthy mix of both private label and third-party brands that are offered in its stores including fashion apparel of brands such as Killer and Sparky in select stores. The revenue contribution from its private labels has increased from 16.29% in FY21 to 36.78% as on December 31, 2023
The family focused brand, Style Bazaar commenced operations with 2 stores in 2014 and grew to 135 stores by FY23 registering a CAGR of 59.68%. As of December 31, 2023 had 153 stores spread across 1.39 mn sq feet across 140 cities. Its target customer segment is the aspiring middle class seeking quality fashion at an affordable price.

Its stores operate on a cluster-based expansion model in which a new store is opened and operated within the same or nearby districts in which it operates at its existing stores. The stores had an average size of 9,114 sq feet and its per sq feet sales stood at Rs 7,445 for FY2023.
The IPO, with a face value of Rs 5 per equity share, is a mix of fresh Issue of up to Rs 185 crore and an offer of sale of up to 16.88 million by the promoter group and other selling shareholders.
The offer for sale consists of the sale of equity shares of up to 2.72 million shares by Rekha Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, up to 2.24 million shares by Intensive Softshare Private Limited, up to 1.49 million shares by Intensive Finance Private Limited, up to 1.31 million shares by Chandurkar Investments Private Limited, up to 9.19 lakh shares by Subroto Trading & Finance Company Limited, up to 8.44 lakh shares by Rajnish Gupta, up to 6.64 lakh shares by Madhu Surana, up to 6.42 lakh shares by Sabita Agarwal, up to 6 lakh shares by Rekha Kedia, up to 6 lakh shares by Shakuntala Devi, up to 5.4 lakh shares by D.K Surana HUF. The offer includes a reservation for subscription by eligible employees.
The company, in consultation with the book-running lead managers, may consider a further issue of specified securities through a private placement, rights issue, preferential offer, or any other method aggregating to Rs 37 crore as a “pre-IPO placement.”. If such placement is completed, the fresh issue size will be reduced.
The offer is being made through the book-building process, wherein not less than 75% of the net offer shall be available for allocation on a proportionate basis to qualified institutional buyers, not more than 15% of the net offer shall be available for allocation to non-institutional investors, and not more than 10% of the net offer shall be available for allocation to retail individual investors.
The proceeds from its fresh issuance to the extent of Rs 135 crore will be utilized for prepayment or repayment of all or a portion of certain outstanding borrowings availed by the company and for general corporate purposes.
Baazar Style Retail clocked a standalone profit of Rs 5.10 crore in the financial year 2023, up from a net loss of Rs 8.01 crore in the previous year. Standalone revenue from operations during the fiscal year 2023 increased significantly to Rs 787.90 crore from Rs 551.12 crore in the previous year, an increase of 42.96%, which included an increase in the sale of apparel and non-apparel and also on account of the expansion of the retail store network and growth in same-store sales during the economic revival post-COVID-19 pandemic.
Its EBITDA margin percentage for Fiscal 2023 was the highest when compared to the Listed Value Retailers.
For the nine months ended December 31, 2023, consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 749.36 crore, and profit after tax stood at Rs 28.38 crore.
Axis Capital Limited, Intensive Fiscal Services Private Limited, and JM Financial Limited are the book-running lead managers, and Link Intime India Private Limited is the registrar of the issue.