Officer's Choice whisky maker Allied Blenders files Rs 2,000-cr IPO papers

The IPO comprises fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 1,000 cr and an Offer For Sale to the tune of Rs 1,000 cr by promoter and promoter group entity, according to the DRHP

Allied Blenders and Distillers Ltd, the maker of Officer's Choice whisky, has filed preliminary papers with the capital markets regulator Sebi to raise Rs 2,000 crore through an Initial Public Offering (IPO).

The IPO comprises fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 1,000 crore and an Offer For Sale (OFS) to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore by promoter and promoter group entity, according to the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP).

As a part of the OFS, Bina Kishore Chhabria will offload shares worth up to Rs 500 crore, while Resham Chhabria Jeetendra Hemdev and Neesha Kishore Chhabria will sell shares to the tune of up to Rs 250 crore each.

At present, Bina holds 52.2 per cent stake in the company, Neesha owns 19.96 per cent stake and Resham has 24.05 per cent stake.

Besides, the company may consider a pre-IPO placement of equity shares aggregating up to Rs 200 crore. If such placement is undertaken, the size of the fresh issue will be reduced.

Proceeds from the fresh issue will be used for payment of debt and for general corporate purpose.

As of March 31, the company's product portfolio comprises 10 brands of Indian-Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) across whisky, brandy, rum and vodka.

Some of the major brands of the company include Officer's Choice Whisky, Sterling Reserve Whisky, Jolly Roger Rum and Class 21 Vodka.

In fiscal 2019, 2020 and 2021, and in the nine months ended December 31, 2021, the company sold 37.32 million, 33.23 million, 25.52 million and 20.66 million cases of IMFL in the country, respectively. It had an overall market share of 8.2 per cent in IMFL market by sales volumes in fiscal 2021.

ICICI Securities, Axis Capital, JM Financial, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company, and Equirus Capital have been appointed as merchant bankers to manage the company's IPO.