Allied Blenders & Distillers IPO: A Toast to Market Aspirations

Allied Blenders and Distillers Ltd, the maker of Officer's Choice whisky, sets a price band of Rs 267-281 per share for its Rs 1,500-crore IPO. Opening from June 25-27, the IPO includes fresh equity issuance and an Offer-for-Sale by promoters. Proceeds will partly repay the company's Rs 808 crore debt.

Allied Blenders and Distillers Ltd, renowned for its Officer's Choice whisky, has announced a price band of Rs 267 to Rs 281 per share for its upcoming Rs 1,500-crore initial public offering (IPO).

The IPO will be open for public subscription from June 25-27, with anchor investors able to bid on June 24. Post-issue, the broking firms estimate the company's market capitalisation to reach Rs 7,860 crore.

The Mumbai-based company's IPO includes a fresh issuance of equity shares worth Rs 1,000 crore and an Offer-for-Sale (OFS) totaling Rs 500 crore by promoters, including Bina Kishore Chhabria, Resham Chhabria Jeetendra Hemdev, and Neesha Kishore Chhabria.

The fresh issue aims to allocate Rs 720 crore towards debt repayment, with the remaining amount slated for general corporate purposes. As of December 2023, the company's total debt stood at around Rs 808 crore.

Launched in 1988 with the Officer's Choice Whisky brand, Allied Blenders manufactures, markets, and sells various alcoholic beverages in India and abroad. Its product portfolio includes several IMFL brands such as Sterling Reserve whisky, Jolly Roger rum, and Class 21 vodka.

Ranked as the third-largest Indian-Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) company in India by annual sales volume from fiscal years 2014 to 2022, Allied Blenders holds an estimated market share of 11.8 per cent in the Indian whisky market for fiscal 2023. As of March 31, 2023, their products were sold across 79,329 outlets in 30 states and Union Territories in India.

The IPO reserves half the issue size for qualified institutional investors, 35 per cent for retail investors, and the remaining 10 per cent for non-institutional investors. Investors can bid for 53 shares and multiples thereof. Managed by ICICI Securities Ltd, Nuvama Wealth Management Ltd, and ITI Capital Ltd, the equity shares are proposed to be listed on both the BSE and NSE.