Bikaji Foods Seeks SEBI Nod For IPO
The snacks and sweets maker will sell about 2.93 crore shares in the IPO.
Bikaji Foods International Ltd. has sought the market regulator’s approval for an initial public offering.
The snacks and sweets maker will sell about 2.93 crore shares in the IPO, a pure offer for sale, according to its draft red herring prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Founders Shiv Ratan Agarwal and Deepak Agarwal will pare 25 lakh shares each.
The other selling shareholders will offload:
India 2020 Maharaja (PE Firm Lighthouse): 1.21 crore shares
IIFL Special Opportunities Fund: 1.1 crore shares
Avendus Future Leaders Fund: 12 lakh shares
Since the issue is an offer for sale, the selling shareholders will be entitled to the entire proceeds, and not the company.
Bikaji, according to the draft prospectus, has an 8.7% market share in the Indian snack segment. Nagpur-based Haldiram’s is the market leader with 36.6% share.
The IPO-bound company claims to be the nation’s largest maker of Bikaneri bhujia, with an annual production of 26,690 tonnes. It produces more than 250 products, with namkeen being the highest-selling category, followed by bhujia, sweets, papad and others contributing to 37%, 36%, 12%, 7% and 8% of the total sales in FY21, respectively.
The company also makes “western” snacks, but has only a 0.4% market share through products such as chips, extruded products and pellets.
Shiv Ratan Agarwal, founder of Bikaji, is the grandson of Gangabishan Agarwal, founder of the Haldiram’s brand. In 1986, the company was originally incorporated as Shivdeep Industries Ltd. Subsequently in 1993, the name was changed to Bikaji Foods.
The company now has six operational manufacturing facilities, with four located in Bikaner, Rajasthan; and one each in Guwahati and Tumakuru, Karnataka.