Mattress maker Kurlon Ltd is looking to raise upto Rs 250 crore through a public issue and is likely to hit the bourses in February-March time frame, atleast two sources briefed with the matter told VCCircle. The company is looking at a market capitalization of Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 crore, the sources added.
The company which plans to get listed on the SME exchange is also looking at some pre-IPO investors. o3 Capital is the advisor to the transaction.
Incidentally, it would be one of the first set of firms to go public on the SME Exchange. BSE had got approval, to start BSE SME Exchange from market regulator Sebi just four months ago.
The company was earlier in talks with some PE firms to raise money to fund its expansion plans and two Mumbai based PE firms also evinced significant interest in the company and that the discussions were at the term sheet stage. But now it plans to go ahead with a public float.
This appears to be a bold move given the state of primary markets, and that too in a new stock exchange.
An email sent to the spokesperson for Kurlon did not elicit any response till the time of writing this article.
According to VCCedge, the financial research platform of VCCircle, the company had clocked revenues of about Rs 520 crore in the last fiscal with net profit of around 29 crore. At the valuation it is eyeing, the company is asking for price earnings multiple of 34-40x on its previous year’s profit.
Kurl-On has a high brand recall and enjoys a strong market share in the mattress category. It also benefits from high institutional sale by catering to one and two-star hotels.
Sometime back the company also branched into furnishing and home décor retailing. It has also partnered with other retailers to expand through a shop-in shop concept. It is also ramping up its Kurl-On Nest venture, a range of exclusive showrooms that will also offer products required from drawing to dining rooms including mattresses, pillows, sofas, bed spreads and home furniture. Currently, it manufactures around 10,000 mattresses per day from seven facilities including two each in Bangalore and Tumkur besides those in Bhuwaneshwar, Gwalior and Uttaranchal.
