Apple's key manpower supplier Layam Group plans IPO next fiscal year

Layam Group —a key supplier of skilled manpower to Apple manufacturing partners like Foxconn, Tata Electronics, and Pegatron — is planning to launch an initial public offering (IPO) during the next financial year to fund its expansion plans. The Chennai-based company is targeting over a 40 per cent rise in its revenue in the next two years, owing to a push in electronic sector investments in Tamil Nadu, with players like Apple going on an expansion drive. Apple is reportedly planning to increase India's share of its global iPhone production to 25 per cent in the next three to four years.

"We are expecting our revenue to increase from Rs 350 crore to over Rs 500 crore in the next two years. Our plan is to go for an IPO in 2025-26," said G Ramesh, Chairman of Layam Group. The company has a presence in various sectors, including human resources solutions, recruitment, staffing, contract manufacturing, training, and business consulting, meeting the needs of diverse industries across India.

"The electronics sector is expected to create millions of jobs in India in the next few years, with many global companies looking at investment opportunities in India. Moreover, the sector is creating a lot of jobs for women," Ramesh said. The company has so far recruited over 20,000 female blue-collar employees across the country. He highlighted that Tamil Nadu is seeing a lot of such investments in the electronics sector, and Layam itself is planning to foray into the manufacturing sector.

In electronics, the state is the number one exporter in India, with exports reaching $9.56 billion in FY24, up 78 percent from $5.37 billion in FY23 and far ahead of Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. According to industry experts, one of the major reasons for the rise in exports is the China-Plus-One strategy of global majors like Apple, following which its contractors like Foxconn and Pegatron, and suppliers like Salcomp, contributed to the rise of Tamil Nadu as the country’s electronic hub last year. Coined in 2013, China-Plus-One is a global business strategy in which companies avoid investing only in China and diversify their businesses to alternative destinations.

"We expect to see a huge boost in the electronics sector in India due to the China-Plus-One policy," he added. The listing plans by the manpower supplier come at a time when Apple has committed to an export target of $9 billion in FY25 and has already completed 45 percent of the target in the first four months.

Apple Inc. is set to get its fourth iPhone assembly plant in India soon, being built by its key contract manufacturer Tata Electronics, and is likely to start production in November. The unit in Tamil Nadu's Hosur will be the second iPhone assembly plant by Tata Electronics after its acquisition of the Wistron unit.